


Ahead of Destiny

by Juh_Nunes



Series: Trust in Fate [4]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alec Lightwood Deserves Nice Things, Alec Lightwood-centric, Alternate Season/Series 01, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Temporary Character Death, Canon-Typical Violence, Canonical Character Death, Established Relationship, Jace Wayland is a Herondale, M/M, Magnus Bane Deserves Nice Things, Married Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood, POV Alec Lightwood, Protective Alec Lightwood
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-20
Updated: 2020-04-28
Packaged: 2021-02-13 18:31:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 64,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21498592
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Juh_Nunes/pseuds/Juh_Nunes
Summary: Two years after his arranged wedding, Alec was happy.He was the Head of the New York Institute during the most peaceful era Shadowhunters had ever experienced with Downworlders, he had a great team, a supportive family, and the best of it all, he had an amazing, gorgeous, perfect husband that he loved more than he could even measure.Alec was truly happy.So, of course, something had to go wrong.Or: Clary, Valentine, and the Circle show up to give Alec major headaches.
Relationships: Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood
Series: Trust in Fate [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1508540
Comments: 480
Kudos: 1101





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is part of a series, and although it can be read on its own, I highly recommend you read the first work in the series [Workings of Fate](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20571908/chapters/48836684) before reading this one.
> 
> Reading 'Workings of Fate' you will understand:  
How Magnus and Alec met each other and how they got married.  
Why the Consul here is Jia Penhallow and not Malachi Dieudonné.  
How Jace already knows he is a Herondale.
> 
> And much more.

Alec was happy.

His life was better than he could’ve ever dreamed it would be.

He was the Head of the New York Institute during the most peaceful era Shadowhunters had ever experienced with Downworlders. The Alliance was in full effect, and Shadow World relations had never been better. He loved his job and his team.

His family was supportive, and even though they had their ups and downs from time to time, he knew they would do anything for each other.

And the best of it all, he had an amazing, gorgeous, perfect husband that he loved more than he could even measure. Their relationship had started in an unconventional way, but they had learned to live together and support each other.

Magnus and Alec had been together for the past two years, and their love had only grown in that time.

He felt like his life was in the right track. He couldn’t be happier.

So, of course, something had to go wrong.

He was at his office in the New York Institute, going through some mission reports. They were tracking down some Shapeshifting Demons that had been draining Mundanes of their blood. Alec couldn’t understand why they were doing that, it wasn’t normal Demon behaviour. They had a theory that the Demons were working for someone, but they had no idea who it could be.

The Mundanes attributed the murders to a serial killer, and the police was all over the case. Luckly, Alec had a good relationship with a couple of Werewolves from the Brooklyn pack that were detectives for the NYPD, and they were making sure to keep the Mundanes in the wrong track while helping the Shadowhunters gather information.

Alec had sent Jace and Izzy after the demon they had tracked from the last murder, and with some luck they would manage to figure out who the demons were working for, and why whoever it was wanted Mundane blood.

He wondered for a second if he shouldn’t be on the field with them, but discarded the idea quickly. It was mostly a reconnaissance mission, Jace and Izzy could deal with it perfectly fine on their own. Still, he always worried about them.

His phone rang, and he thanked the Angel when he saw it was Magnus and not one of his siblings. Alec took a quick glance at the clock over the fireplace, it was still early for Magnus to be back home in a club night, and he didn’t usually call Alec from the club, something must have happened.

“Hi,” Alec picked up the phone, hoping he was worrying without reason.

“Hi, Sayang,” Magnus answered, and Alec heard a hint of uneasiness in his voice.

“Something wrong?”

“Yeah,” Magnus sighed deeply. “I caught two Shadowhunters with Circle Runes in the club.”

“What?” Alec gasped, that was definitely not what he had expected. “Do you know who they are?”

The only Shadowhunters with Circle Runes, that he knew of, were the ones that, like Hodge, had been bound to a location for the rest of their lives. They couldn’t leave their detention places, so it was impossible for them to simply go to Pandemonium.

Then, he remembered Michael Wayland’s murder. Circle members that had never been captured showed up at his house, and killed him in the middle of the night, Jace had been there and seen everything. For years Jace had been obsessed with finding and capturing them, until he found out Michael was not actually his father, and never talked about it again.

“I don’t recognize them, but they are old enough to be from your parents generation. I imagine they are some of the ones that managed to run away during the Uprising.”

“And they just showed up at Pandemonium today? Just like that? Did they do anything?” Alec asked frantically, already thinking about all the things he would have to do, all the people he would have to call and inform about this.

“They were standing around, looking menacing,” Magnus huffed with annoyance. “I sent them away. I couldn’t do anything else in the middle of the club and risk them putting up a fight with so many Mundanes around. I’ll have to talk to the staff. I need to figure out how they got in and make sure it won’t happen again. I won’t get home anytime soon, though.”

“Yeah, do that,” Alec said thoughtfully. 

He had no idea what Circle members could be doing at Magnus’ club so long after the Uprising. They couldn’t possibly think that the Clave would allow them to roam free, even after so many years, so why would they risk themselves by going to a Downworlder's club? Especially Pandemonium. Everybody knew that Magnus was married to Alec. Why would they be so stupid as to put themselves on the radar of both the High Warlock of Brooklyn and the Head of the New York Institute? It didn’t make any sense.

“Deal with that and tell me whatever you find out, okay?” Alec said after a second. “I’ll have to call Imogen and Jia, let them know about this.”

“You should tell your parents too,” Magnus suggested right before they hung up.

Alec sighed. His parents' past on the Circle was still a somewhat uncomfortable subject. It wasn’t a secret, in any way, and Alec had learned to live with it over the years since he found out, but even now it always left him with a bitter taste on his mouth whenever he thought about it. Still, Magnus was right, this was something his parents had to know about.

He left messages to both Inquisitor Herondale and Consul Penhallow, he told them what had happened, and guaranteed to keep them informed of any developments. Then, he went looking for his mother.

Alec had just walked into the command center, when Izzy came in from the main entrance. She looked fine, and he hadn’t felt anything worrisome coming from his bond with Jace, so he knew Jace was not hurt either, but from the look on her face it was obvious that something wasn’t right.

“What happened? Where’s Jace?” He questioned immediately.

“He is fine,” Izzy reassured him quickly, raising her arms in a placating gesture.

“And the mission?” Alec asked, narrowing his eyes at her.

“Well…” She hesitated, averting her eyes, before taking a deep breath and explaining; “We followed the Shapeshifter to Pandemonium, it went into a back room with some other Shapeshifters, but—”

“But I just talked to Magnus, he didn’t tell me you were there,” Alec interrupted, frowning.

First the Circle members at the club, now this. It could be just a coincidence, and Alec knew not to jump to conclusions without complete data, but the timing was too perfect for it not to be related. He gestured for Izzy to follow him back to his office, he wanted to know what had happened and where Jace was, but he also had to tell her about the Circle members, and he knew it was better to do that away from prying ears.

“The club was packed, we didn’t see him,” Izzy shrugged, walking with him. “Anyway, we got to the back room, and we were doing our thing, I was distracting them, Jace was interrogating one of the Demons, it was going well. And then, this girl showed up out of nowhere, and pushed the Demon Jace was interrogating out of the way.”

“A Mundane with the sight? Was she working with them?”

“I don’t think so,” Izzy said, biting her lower lip. “It was more like she thought the Shapeshifter was a person, and that Jace was about to hurt it. But I don’t think she was a Mundane either.”

“What do you think she was?” Alec questioned suspiciously.

“After she showed up we had to fight the Demons, right?” Alec nodded as she kept talking. “But we had to be careful not to hurt the girl, we didn’t know what she was doing, or even what she was, so we were in the middle of the fight, and Jace had to take her out of the way, but it made him drop his seraph blade.” Alec widened his eyes at her, and she raised a hand to stop him from interrupting. “Yeah, so, Jace was doing hand to hand, and I was busy with my share of the Demons, when the girl picked up Jace’s seraph blade, and it lit up for her.”

“Angel blood,” Alec sighed, raising a hand to his forehead, and rubbing his temples.

“That’s what we thought,” Izzy confirmed. “But we couldn’t see any Runes.”

“Where is she now? Where is Jace?”

“She ran away while we were busy finishing off the Demons, Jace went after her to investigate.”

Alec shook his head slowly. It was too much of a coincidence for him not to think about it. At the same place, almost at the same time; Magnus caught the Circle members, Izzy and Jace followed the Demons peddling Mundane blood, and this mysterious Nephilim girl appeared out of nowhere. It had to be connected.

“She had to be with them, right?” He said, more to himself than to Izzy.

“I told you, Alec, I don’t think she was working with the Demons.”

“That’s not what I meant,” Alec said, still focusing on what Izzy had told him. “Magnus called not too long ago, he caught two Circle members at the club.”

“What?” Izzy halted, grabbing his arm, and looking at him with widened eyes.

“Yeah,” Alec grimaced. “They had Circle Runes and everything. Magnus thinks they were some of the ones that ran away during the Uprising. Maybe the same ones that killed Michael Wayland.”

“Tonight, of all nights,” Izzy whispered, looking up at him with concern.

“Exactly,” Alec nodded, opening the door to his office.

“She's not old enough, though,” Izzy said thoughtfully. “She’s my age, maybe younger. She couldn’t be a Circle member.”

“I don’t know,” Alec sighed, sitting heavily on his chair, resting his elbows on the desk, and using his hands to support his forehead, he could feel the beginning of a headache. “All I know is that it’s too much of a coincidence.”

“Jace followed her, maybe he will be able to answer if she was with the Circle members,” Izzy said, sitting on the chair in front of his desk, worrying her lips with her teeth.

“I have to inform the Clave,” Alec said tiredly, shaking his head as he logged into the system. “I already messaged Imogen and Jia about the Circle members at the club, I should inform them about this girl.”

“Isn’t it better to wait for Jace to come back with more information?” Izzy suggested, and he nodded, putting his tablet down.

While they waited, Izzy worked on her official mission report, and Alec went over some paperwork he had left for the next morning. It didn’t take long for Raj to knock on his door and inform them that Jace was back with an unconcious girl.

“By the Angel!” Izzy exclaimed as they went to infirmary in a hurry.

Alec couldn’t believe how much had gone wrong in such a small period of time. He wondered for a second if it would’ve changed anything if he had gone with Jace and Izzy on the mission, but he didn’t have time to useless conjectures. Now he had the Demons peddling blood, two Circle members showing up out of nowhere, and an unconscious unknown Nephilim to busy himself with.

“Her house was ransacked, she had a Shapeshifter on top of her when I got there,” Jace explained the moment Alec entered the infirmary.

The red haired girl was on one of the beds, Alec could see an Iratze on her neck, but according to Izzy, she didn’t have any visible Runes earlier. Maryse and Hodge were there too, Hodge was mixing something in the corner, and Maryse was checking the girl’s vitals.

“She is definitely a Shadowhunter, though,” Jace stated, watching the girl intensely. “But she didn’t seem to understand what was going on, at all, she thought the Demon was a friend of hers.”

“Are you trying to tell me this girl didn’t know she is a Shadowhunter?” Alec asked in disbelief. “That doesn’t— How?”

“It wouldn’t be the first time,” Maryse said as she finished examining the girl, and Hodge dumped something into the girl’s mouth. “One of her parents could have been deruned and never told her about the Shadow World.”

“Don’t the Clave keep records on it?” Izzy asked, frowning.

“Yes, yes they do,” Alec confirmed, gesturing to Izzy emphatically. “And they also inform the children of deruned Shadowhunters about the Shadow World and offer them training, so I don’t think that’s the case.”

“Maybe they kept her hidden from the Clave?” Jace conjectured, without taking his eyes from the girl.

“Wouldn’t that be too dangerous, though?” Izzy questioned, exchanging a meaningful look with Alec. “Demons feel attracted to Angel blood. She would be in constant danger if she didn’t know how to defend herself.”

“Like she was when I got there?” Jace asked, raising his eyebrows.

“It’s useless to keep guessing about it with no information,” Alec grunted, running his hand through his hair in frustration. “Jace, give Izzy the address where you found the girl. Izzy, go through her bag, please, look through her phone, police records, anything that—”

“I can do it,” Jace interrupted him, standing up at once, and crossing the infirmary.

Alec stopped him by holding his arm before he could leave. “Izzy will do it, I need to talk to you and mom,” he said firmly, gesturing for Maryse to come with them.

Jace looked at him for a moment, then gave Izzy the address, before he followed Alec and Maryse to the office. Alec felt a protectiveness coming from Jace that worried him a little, he was already worrying about the girl, and they didn’t even know who she was.

“What’s it, Alec?” Jace asked impatiently once they entered the office, throwing himself on his usual chair.

“Finding this girl is not the only thing that happened tonight,” Alec stated, rubbing his temples tiredly. “Magnus called me, he caught two Circle members at Pandemonium around the same time you were there.”

“What do you mean Circle members?” Jace asked, sitting up straight and closing his hands into fists. An old anger surged through their bond.

Maryse only looked at Alec attentively, her mouth tightly shut in a thin line.

“I mean two men with Circle Runes on their necks,” Alec explained, trying to send some calm feelings to Jace, but failing. “I think they may be the ones that killed Michael,” he added quietly, observing Jace with concern.

Jace’s jaw locked tightly. Ever since they found out Michael was not his biological father, Jace avoided talking about him, or even mentioning his name, and everyone around him respected that. They still had no idea how Jace had ended up with him though, and the resurfacing of Circle members, when the last time they heard of them was when they killed Michael, sure would bring up some old feelings.

“It’s possible,” Maryse affirmed, watching Jace from the corner of her eyes. “But it can be someone else too, there’s a good number of Circle members who were never found. The Clave looked for them, but everything was chaotic back then, with the conflict with the Downworlders, the trials of the remaining Circle members, and the disappearance of the Mortal Cup...”

“So, it's possible that they are together and organized?” Alec asked worriedly, and Maryse nodded. “Why would they resurface now, though? And at Pandemonium of all places?”

Maryse sighed. “That I don’t know. But you see that this can’t be a coincidence, right?”

“You think the girl has something to do with the Circle?” Jace asked, looking from Maryse to Alec with widened eyes. “She didn’t even know what a Demon was when one was on top of her, she can’t be involved with the Circle and—”

“We are not involved with the Circle and still our parents are ex-Circle members,” Alec stated, gesturing to Maryse with his head.

“You think the girl might be the daughter of one of the men Magnus saw at the club?” Jace asked doubtfully.

“We won’t know until we find out more about her,” Alec interrupted him, raising his hands placatingly. “I just wanted the two of you to know all the facts before anything else happens.”

Izzy knocked at the door just then, with more information on the girl. Apparently her name was Clary Fray, not a Shadowhunter’s surname, and she lived with her mother, who owned an antique shop. She had no criminal records, and Izzy found, looking through her phone, that she had just been accepted in Art School. There was nothing that would suggest she was anything other than Mundane. Still, there she was, being healed by the Iratze Jace had drawn on her neck.

There was nothing else they could do for now, so Alec decided to go home and try to rest for a while. He left the Institute with orders for them to call him if the girl woke up while he was away. He didn’t think it would happen, she had been hit with a massive amount of venom, and if Jace hadn’t been there to rescue her, she would’ve died in minutes, it would take a while to flush it out of her system.

Magnus was having a drink on the balcony, watching the sun rise, when Alec got home. He approached his husband, hugging him from behind and burying his face on the creek of Magnus’ neck, finally letting go of the tension on his shoulders after his stressful night. Magnus hummed contently with the contact.

“Hi,” he said softly.

“Hi,” Alec murmured, kissing Magnus’ neck lightly.

He should probably tell Magnus about everything that had happened. He should tell Magnus about the Demons using his club to sell Mundane blood, and the mysterious girl. But all Alec wanted right now was to hold his husband and forget about his worries for a while. They could talk later.

* * *

Magnus had just summoned them breakfast, something they rarely had the opportunity to enjoy together, when Alec told him about the Demons Jace and Izzy followed to Pandemonium. Before Alec could tell him about the girl, Magnus put his fork down, and looked at him with clear concern.

“Demons and Circle member at my club in the same night,” he grunted, shaking his head with exasperation. “I have the sudden urge to fire everyone and hire a whole new staff.”

“Did you figure out how the Circle members got into the club?”

“I have a bouncer missing,” Magnus sighed deeply. “We don’t know if he was payed to allow them in or if they— If they did something to him.”

_ Killed him. _ That was what Magnus had meant to say. Alec didn’t need to ask to know it. He got a bitter taste in his mouth and put his fork down too, his appetite completely gone.

“It can’t be a coincidence,” Magnus said, standing up and walking around the kitchen deep in thought. “The Demons must had been working for them, but why would the Circle want Mundane blood?”

Alec tilted his head, and watched as Magnus walked back and forth. He hadn’t thinked about it. He was pretty sure he would have reached the same conclusion if the girl hadn’t distracted him, though. It would be too much of a coincidence otherwise.

Magnus was still pondering over the possible applicabilities of Mundane blood by the time Alec had to leave for the Institute. He promised he would keep Alec informed of any new developments as he picked up his phone and started making calls to other Warlocks who may know something about it.

There were no news about the girl when Alec got to the Institute. Maryse informed him that Izzy and Jace had taken turns keeping an eye on her during the morning, and that the venom was leaving her system as expected. He checked last night’s incident reports, particularly interested in learning if anyone else saw something out of the ordinary, before going to his office. From the moment he sat down, Alec’s phone started to ring, and he didn’t manage to put it down for the rest of the afternoon.

The first ones to call were Imogen and Jia, asking for updates on the Circle members, the Demons peddling blood, and the girl. They pulled Alec into a conference call with the other Institutes nearby, where they explained to the other Heads what had happened in New York the night before and came up with surveillance plans.

Then Magnus called. He sounded worried as he told Alec he had been trying to get in touch with some of his friends to gather information on what the Circle members could want with Mundane blood, and found that two of his Warlock friends were missing.

Alec offered to help Magnus find his friends, but he refused it, saying that he couldn’t feel their magic anymore, and couldn’t track them. Under normal circumstances he would have thought they were cloaking themselves, but right after catching the Circle in his club, Magnus was wary of what it could mean.

Not much later, Luke Garroway called. He too sounded nervous, and Alec quickly learned why. Luke had caught a Circle member trying to kidnap a young Warlock. He had no choice but to turn and stop her. 

Alec's stomach dropped. Every piece sliding into place at once. It all made some sense now.

The remaining Circle members were on the hunt.

And they were hunting Warlocks.


	2. Chapter 2

A wave of fear and nausea almost paralyzed him. For a moment, Alec couldn’t think of anything other than getting to Magnus and protecting him. There were Warlocks missing, Magnus’ friends, and the Circle members had been at Pandemonium, so close to his husband, who knew what they would’ve done if Magnus hadn’t noticed them when he did.

But Alec had to act, he had a job to do, and panicking about Magnus’ safety wouldn’t keep him away from danger. He took a deep breath, pushing his fear down as best as he could, and told Luke to stay put with the young Warlock and the Circle member’s body.

He quickly called Magnus to meet him where Luke was, and summoned his father’s team to go with him. Robert would be able to identify the dead Circle member, Magnus would be able to tell if it was the same from last night and take the Warlock they were hunting to safety. It was the best Alec could do for now.

No more than five minutes after he got Luke’s call, Alec, Robert and the team were almost out of the door, when Jace caught up with them, looking at Alec with widened eyes. Alec sent his father ahead and stayed behind with Jace in the entrance hall.

“You are afraid, why are you afraid?” Jace asked frantically the moment they were left alone.

“The Circle is hunting Warlocks,” Alec said somberly without preamble, he had no time to explain everything else he had learned since they last talked.

Jace’s breath hitched and a fresh wave of concern came to Alec through their bond, adding up to Alec’s own worry. “Magnus?”

“No, not Magnus,” Alec explained quickly, and felt some relief coming from Jace. “Luke found a Circle member trying to kidnap a Warlock.”

“What?” Jace asked infuriated, closing his hands into fists. “And you were going after them without me?”

“Luke killed the Circle member, Magnus will be there, and I’m taking dad and his team—”

“I’m going too,” Jace interrupted him, opening the Institute’s door forcefully. “Honestly, Alec, I can’t believe you even considered going without me,” he grunted as they ran to catch up with Robert.

The scene when they got to the parking garage was gruesome. There were claw marks on one of the cars and on the walls, the body of a dark skinned woman was on the floor, partially obscured by a car, her eyes were opened and glassy, the body ripped in half with guts spilling out. A seraph blade was by her side, plunged in a pool of her bright red blood.

Luke was also stained red, his shirt was ripped, and Alec could see cuts already healing on his torso and arms. He looked gravely at Alec when they arrived.

In a corner, away from the body, Magnus was talking to the young Warlock in hushed tones. The Warlock didn’t look much older than Izzy, though when it came to Warlocks, that didn’t mean much. The red magic crackling nonstop from his fingertips was more testament of his young age than his appearance.

After sending his team to scout the perimeter and make sure there were no other Circle members close by, Robert stopped in front of the body and stared at the ripped apart woman for a long time, while Luke told Alec what had happened.

Then, Alec approached Magnus and the other Warlock carefully, leaving his father and Jace to write down Luke’s statement. The Warlock seemed scared to even look up at Alec and the other Shadowhunters around them, and Alec felt bad that even after the Alliance, there was still so much distrust between Downworlders and Shadowhunters.

“I'll need to take a statement from him as soon as he can,” Alec murmured to Magnus, observing the Warlock’s haywire magic.

“Give us a moment,” Magnus said, nodding, as he too kept his eyes on the Warlock’s fidgeting hands.

Alec nodded and left them alone, he knew it would be easier for Magnus to calm the other Warlock down without Alec’s interference. Robert still had his eyes fixated on the woman on the floor, and Alec was positive his father knew her.

“Annais Blackwell,” Robert declared before Alec could ask.

“Blackwell?” Jace questioned, approaching them with peaked interest. Even after everything that happened, Alec could feel that the name had spiked hurt in Jace. Samuel Blackwell was one of the Circle members that killed Michael Wayland eleven years ago.

“Yes,” Robert confirmed stiffly, exchanging a meaningful look with Jace. “Samuel’s wife.”

Alec raised his hand to his temple and rubbed it for a moment. If this was Samuel’s wife, then they were the same group that had killed Michael. It was likely that they were organized in some way and had some kind of plan. Taking the time since Michael’s death, this plan could have been in the works for years.

Robert’s team came back shortly after that, with no reports of anything out of place. This whole thing had Alec on edge, he had the feeling that this was just the beginning of their problems with the Circle. And all he wanted was to get Magnus to safety, but he knew his husband far too well by now, if the Circle was after Warlocks, there was no way Magnus would let his people be hunted down without doing something about it.

The parking garage was making Alec nauseous, or maybe it was his fear for Magnus, he wouldn’t be able to tell at the moment, all he knew was that he had to get out of there, but he couldn't, not without going through with protocol.

“Wrap it all up, cover all the evidences,” Alec instructed the team, pointing to the claw marks on the walls and the blood on the floor. “Take the body to the lab for analysis.”

“Analysis?” Luke questioned, narrowing his eyes. “You don’t believe my account of events?”

“Of course we do,” Alec stated firmly, gesturing Luke, Jace and Robert aside. They took a few steps away from the team that was taking photos of the scene before packing everything up.

“What is it, Alec?” Luke asked eyeing the Shadowhunters they left behind with suspicion.

“This is not our first report of non-Clave associated Shadowhunters in the area,” Alec explained diplomatically.

“You mean the Circle?” Luke interrupted him, turning to exchange a look with Robert. “You have other reports on the Circle?”

Alec nodded seriously. “Magnus reported on two of them at Pandemonium last night. We need everything we can get to figure out where they are and what they are doing.”

Luke took a deep breath and nodded once in agreement. “You won’t be bringing charges, then?”

“As far as the New York Institute and the Clave are concerned, you acted within your rights to defend a fellow Alliance abiding citizen.”

“Good,” Luke stated with no signs of relief. “I have to inform the pack of what is going on,” he said after a moment, gesturing to the exit of the parking lot with his head. Alec nodded and Luke turned to leave in a hurry.

“We need to find them before something worse happens,” Alec told his father and Jace, watching Luke’s retreating back.

“We will,” Jace stated fiercely.

“And someone has to get rid of that car,” Alec added louder so the rest of the team could hear him. “We don’t need the Mundanes investigating the claw marks, and I doubt anyone will pay attention to one more car theft in the middle of New York.”

“That’s what insurance is for,” Jace shrugged, already walking towards the car.

It didn’t take long for the Warlock, who Magnus introduced as Nicholas Scratch, to be ready to talk. His hands were still fidgeting, when he and Magnus approached Alec and Robert, but Magnus had managed to calm him down enough to make the haywire magic stop.

“Can you tell us what happened?” Alec questioned in a calming tone.

Nicholas glanced at Magnus for a moment, and when Magnus signed for him to go on, he said; “I’m not sure. I had my headphones on, and I felt something behind me, when I turned she,” he pointed to the body, “was almost on top of me with her sword out. Then she wasn’t there anymore, I looked around and found the Werewolf on top of her behind that car.”

That was pretty much what Luke had told them, Alec had hoped the Circle member had said something to Nicholas before Luke showed up, so they could maybe figure out why they were kidnapping Warlocks, but that didn’t seem to be the case.

“I didn’t understand what was going on at first, it didn’t make sense that a Shadowhunter would jump me like that,” Nicholas frowned. “But then I saw the Circle on her neck.”

Alec nodded gravely. “Can you think of any reason the Circle would have to come after you like that?”

“I’m not sure,” Nicholas said hesitantly.

“Why not sure?” Magnus prompted.

Nicholas bit his lower lip and looked around apprehensively, before lowering his voice, and answering; “Yesterday a demon told me that Valentine is alive.”

Both Alec and Magnus froze, staring at Nicholas with widened eyes. The Clave records stated that Valentine was dead without doubt, but then again, he knew for a fact that Clave records had been wrong before. Alec glanced at his father, trying to assess if that was new information for him too, and found Robert gawping at Nicholas, dumbfounded.

After a couple of moments, Magnus looked at Alec with questioning eyes, and Alec nodded stiffly, before Magnus turned back to Nicholas. “Go to the Spiral Labyrinth, stay there for now, I’ll inform the Spiral Council of what is going on and we’ll come up with a plan.”

Nicholas agreed and took a step away from them, before opening a portal and disappearing through it.

“Dad?” Alec called.

“It’s possible,” Robert stated, frowning. “Back then, everybody knew Valentine was interested in making experiments to try to make Shadowhunters stronger or—” he hesitated, glancing at Magnus.

“Or more ways to kill or to control Downworlders,” Magnus said, clenching his jaw. “We are aware.”

Robert swallowed dry and nodded. “If we are right, and the Demons sold the Mundane blood to the Circle, the blood can only be for his experiments. Until yesterday, we had no reports on the Circle for years, I don’t think he intended on being discovered now either. He’s probably been developing something for years to help him with his— hm— objectives.”

“To help him kill Downworlders,” Magnus stated, staring at Robert pointedly.

Alec bit the inside of his mouth and took a deep breath. He could see Magnus’ old anger at Robert resurfacing, and he couldn’t blame him, before all of this happened their past was buried and they had a somewhat civil relationship, but with the Circle showing up left and right, he understood why Magnus would be confrontational towards Robert.

“But how can Valentine be alive?” Alec asked, looking from his father to Magnus, trying to keep them both focused on the current problem and not on their past.

“What did you just say?” Jace’s shocked came from behind them.

Alec turned around to find Jace’s face red with anger, and his fists clenched by his side. Alec didn’t expect him back so soon, he thought Jace would take longer trashing the car.

“There are rumors that Valentine is alive,” Alec said evenly, observing Jace attentively, confusion and anger bouncing back and forth through their bond.

Just like Alec, Jace’s first reaction was to turn to Robert, expecting an explanation.

“The last time I saw him was right before the Uprising,” Robert told them, looking regretful. “We stormed the Accords hall as he had planned, and a battle ensued.” He glanced at Magnus, who nodded curtly.

“We helped the Clave stop them,” Magnus sighed, closing his eyes for a brief second, before continuing. “A lot of people died, but Valentine was not there.”

“I don’t know if he even entered the Accords hall that night,” Robert admitted with a distant look on his eyes. “I remember him being behind us, but then it was chaos, and I was more worried about keeping an eye on your mother’s back than paying attention to Valentine.”

“When the fight stopped, the Clave discovered that the Mortal Cup was gone, and they panicked,” Magnus said seriously. “There were a lot of things going on at once then, the Clave accused the Downworlders of stealing the Mortal Cup, and the Downworlders accused the Clave of allowing Valentine to roam free for so long when everybody knew what he was doing. It took some time for things to settle down enough for the Clave to send someone after Valentine, but when they got to the Fairchild Manor, where he lived, they found the house burned down. They found four bodies in the ruins that they believed belonged to Valentine, his son, and his wife’s parents.”

“They never found his wife,” Robert added. “For years we believed she ran away from the fire, but since she never came back, and there was no body, the Clave considers her a fugitive.”

After hearing everything they had to say, Alec wondered how the Clave could actually think Valentine was dead. Of course he knew that the consul back then was associated with Valentine, so it was possible that he had covered some of the inconsistencies, but still, how come Jia and Imogen never realized how little sense this whole story made?

Jace’s anger and frustration were overwhelming, and Alec’s own fear and concern weren’t helping much either. Alec exhaled deeply, before sending his father and Jace to help the rest of the team finish wrapping up everything. He needed a moment alone with Magnus, he couldn’t focus on his job when he knew his husband was in danger.

“They are hunting Warlocks, Magnus,” Alec whispered, grabbing Magnus’ hand tightly, doing his best to keep the fear out of his voice. “You can’t—”

“I won’t hide and leave my people to fend for themselves, Alexander,” Magnus interrupted him firmly. “They need me.”

“I know,” Alec stated, and his voice trembled a little. “I wasn’t going to tell you to hide and leave them behind, I was going to say you need to find a way to protect them, and yourself, even if—” he hesitated, unwilling to say what he was thinking.

“Even if I have to stay away for a while to keep them safe?” Magnus completed regretfully, bringing his hand to Alec’s face and caressing it lightly. “I don’t want to be away from you.”

Alec didn’t want to be away from Magnus either. But he knew Magnus wouldn’t leave his people to their own devices, Alec wouldn’t either, he couldn’t ask him to.

“But you need to protect your people, and I need to make sure my people find and stop the Circle,” Alec stated, trying to sound more sure than he felt. That was the best way to protect Magnus, stopping the Circle, bringing Valentine and his followers to justice.

“It will only be a couple of days, just enough for me to set up and ward a safe house to hide all the Warlocks we can,” Magnus said, looking into Alec’s eyes softly.

“Call me,” Alec pleaded, looking back at Magnus intensely, before kissing him tenderly.

He could feel Jace’s gaze on his back as Magnus opened a portal and disappeared through it. Jace could certainly feel Alec’s conflicting emotions, but when he got back to the team to check on their progress, Jace didn’t say a thing about his internal turmoil, and Alec appreciated that a lot. He shouldn’t be surprised though, part of being a good  _ parabatai _ was knowing when to press for information and when to leave things alone.

Alec spent the whole way back to the Institute listing on his head all the things he had to do now; He had to inform the other Downworld leaders, update Jia and Imogen, inform his people of what was going on, and come up with new action protocol regarding the Circle. He did everything he could to concentrate on work and not worry about Magnus and the other Warlocks, but he wasn’t completely successful.

First things first, as soon as they got to the Institute, Alec went to the infirmary with Jace to check on the girl, he had forgotten to tell Magnus about her, again, but with everything else that was going on, he didn’t think it mattered too much.

Izzy was on the chair beside the girl’s bed, reading a book with her feet on the bed, and raised her head when she heard them coming.

“How is she?” Jace asked, gesturing to the girl with his chin.

“Just the same,” Izzy shrugged, placing her book on the bedside table. “Everything okay?”

“More Circle members,” Jace informed tonelessly, throwing himself on the chair on the other side of the girl’s bed.

Izzy looked at Jace for a moment, before turning to Alec, probably to ask for a better explanation, but hesitated when she saw his face. “You look tired,” she said carefully. “You should go home. We can call you if anything else happens.”

“I’ll stay at the Institute for a couple of days,” Alec declared emotionless, before turning to leave the infirmary.

“What’s going on?” He heard Izzy ask with obvious worry as he walked away.

“They are hunting Warlocks, Iz,” Jace replied in a sorrowful tone.

Alec shook his head, trying to focus on anything other than the fact that Magnus could be in danger. He crossed the command center and got to his office, where he spent the next few hours in phone calls with the Downwolder leaders and Jia, trying to figure out a course of action. Once they had a clear idea on how to deal with this new treat, Alec sent directives to the phones of all the Shadowhunters under his command. He would probably have to answer a bunch of questions the next day, but he needed his people to be as well prepared as possible while they were out on patrol.

It was almost daybreak, when Jace showed up at the office to tell him that the girl had started to fidget in her sleep.

“We’ll have to be careful with what we say in front of her, Jace,” Alec said seriously, as they walked to the infirmary together. “As far as we know, she could be a spy for the Circle and—”

“Seriously, Alec,” Jace interrupted him. “She doesn’t know anything about the Shadow World. You weren’t there, she had a Demon on top of her and didn’t know how to fight it, at all. If she were a spy for the Circle she would at least know how to defend herself, don’t you think?”

“I don’t know,” Alec sighed, rubbing his face tiredly. “It’s too weird that this girl showed up out of nowhere right when the Circle is starting to resurface.” Jace was about to open his mouth to retort, but Alec raised a hand and stopped him. “Just be careful, it’s all I’m asking.”

“Okay,” Jace agreed reluctantly. “I’ll probe her a little before saying anything relevant.”

Alec nodded, and they opened the door to the infirmary to hear Izzy saying; “And by taken I assume you mean saved your life.”

The girl, Clary, Alec tried to remind himself, was awake. She was staring at Izzy with confusion, and jumped in place when they walked inside, looking from Jace to Alec with wariness.

Alec leaned against the wall close to the door, crossing his arms, and Izzy got out of the bed to stand beside him as Jace approached the girl.

“Who are you people, what am I doing here?” Clary asked, looking around with obvious distress, her eyes never stopping. Alec assumed she was trying to find a way out, like any reasonable people would in this kind of situation.

“I’m Jace Herondale,” Jace declared, sitting on the corner of the bed. “They are Izzy and Alec Lightwood.”

“I’m— hm—” Clary mumbled, staring at Jace with an awestruck look that almost made Alec roll his eyes.

“Clary Fray, we know who you are,” Jace declared with a self-assured half-smirk.

Alec didn’t quite agree with that assessment. If he was sure of anything about the girl at this point was that they had no idea who she actually was. Because a Mundane Art student from Brooklyn certainly wasn’t it.

“How do you know that?” Clary questioned, looking around frantically. “Is this an infirmary?” She added after a second, seeming to remember something, and placing a hand on her collarbone, where not too long ago she had a deep gash.

“You are healed,” Jace stated, looking at the place where she had been hit by the Demon with some self-confidence, they all knew she would be dead if he hadn’t drawn the Iratze when he did, even though at that point, he wasn’t completely sure she could take the Rune.

“How is that even possible?” She asked with widened eyes. “So, what? I’m miraculously healed and all of you—” she hesitated, looking at Alec and Izzy, before turning back to Jace. “Stunning people have magical powers?”

Jace snorted, shaking his head. “No, no, don’t confuse us with Warlocks.”

“What?”

“Warlocks, you know, Downworlders,” Jace stated, watching the girl attentively.

“Okay, you are not making any sense,” Clary said, shaking her head.

“Warlocks,” Jace said firmly, observing her reactions. “Vampires, Seelies, Were—”

“Literally, my brain is about to explode,” she interrupted him, putting both her hands over her ears, looking confused and scared.

“She doesn’t know anything,” Izzy murmured, looking at the girl pitifully. “She can’t be—”

“Are you satisfied now?” Jace asked, turning to stare at Alec.

Alec rolled his eyes to him, before glancing at Clary. If she really didn’t know anything about the Shadow World, and was just at the wrong place at the wrong time, then why did the Demons follow her home and ransacked the place? That still didn’t make any sense.

“No,” Alec stated firmly.

“Oh, please, Alec,” Jace grunted in frustration. “She doesn’t know!”

“What are you talking about?” Clary asked frantically. “What don’t I know? What is this place?”

“Well,” Jace shrugged to Alec, before turning back to the girl. “I’ll make it simple for you. All the legends are true. We’re Shadowhunters. We protect the human world from the Demon world. And you are one of us. So those— people— you saw murdered at Pandemonium, they weren’t people at all, they were Shapeshifting Demons.”

Clary stared at him for a moment, shaking her head slowly, the look on her face clearly saying she thought he was crazy.

“I’m not interested in being a part of your supernatural fight club,” she said in a semi-mocking tone, making Izzy snort and Alec huff. “I just want to find my mom. I don’t care for the rest of it, whatever it is, all I care about is finding my mother,” she said in distress, then whispered; “Please.”

“Your mom?” Alec questioned, frowning. “What happened to your mom?”

“She was scared— she said there was someone after her— she said they found us— then, Dot did something, and I appeared at the police station,” she stammered tearfully. “When I got back home everything was trashed and— and my mom was gone— and Dot was that Demon thing.”

Somehow, the Circle must have taken her mother. Which lead Alec to believe that her mother was a Shadowhunter too. But that didn’t explain why the Circle would take her. He hummed, exchanging a concerned glance with Jace and Izzy.

They would need more information on the mother. They had to know who she was in order to know why the Circle would take her. Alec’s mind was brought back to the present by the fierce burst of protectiveness he got from Jace’s side of the bond. _That was bad._ They barely knew the girl, she had been awake for less than half an hour, and Jace was already obsessed.

“Please, help me find my mother,” she begged, staring at Jace with teary eyes.

“I’m the best chance you’ve got,” Jace declared earnestly.

Izzy exchanged a concerned look with Alec, before stepping forward. “He means we,” she said. “_ We _ will do our best to help you find your mom.”

“I— I don’t even know you people,” Clary said, shaking her head lightly. 

Before anyone could say anything else, her phone rang.

“It’s been ringing all day,” Izzy said, picking the phone from the bedside table, and giving it to Clary.

“All day?” Clary repeated, widening her eyes even more. “How long have I been asleep?”

“A little more than 24 hours,” Izzy said with an apologetic half-smile, making the girl gawp as she looked at who was calling.

“Simon!” She exclaimed suddenly, answering the phone immediately.

Alec gestured for Izzy to follow him to the command center, and for Jace to keep an eye on the girl. He needed more information, and Izzy had always been better at it than Jace.

“Run her mother’s name through every system we have access to,” he said as they walked towards the command center. “We need to know why the Circle would take her, what they want from her.”

“Okay,” Izzy nodded, stopping in front of one of the monitors, and starting to type fast into their databases.

While she searched, Alec went to check on the teams that were coming back from patrol. Everything that was going on was too important for him to wait until the next day for their reports. None of them had any new information on the Circle, but some of them reported Downworlders reacting to their presence with wariness and mistrust.

Alec sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. He should have expected that. Of course the Downworlders would be cautious of Shadowhunters now that it was common knowledge that the Circle was back. He could only hope that this wouldn’t ruin everything they had worked for over the last eighteen years.

He was about to go to bed, when he felt Jace’s heart rate spiking. Alec strode across the command center hurriedly, the bond tugging him towards the entrance of the Institute, and he was almost at the door when Jace came inside with Clary and a Mundane.

“What’s going on?” Alec asked, giving Jace a quick once over, looking for injuries, before turning to the Mundane and narrowing his eyes. “Why is there a Mundane in the Institute?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, at this point I have no idea if I'll go with Clace or not... I mean, not my favorite ship, I don't really like Jace when Clary is around him, they have an 'annoying couple' kind of vibe, etc. But I think I can work with it anyway... Well, I don't know, and it's slowing me down, and I don't like that. So, if you have an opinion on ships, maybe this is the right time to tell me?


	3. Chapter 3

The Mundane stared at the command center with his mouth opened and widened eyes. “Where are we?” He stammered. “Clary, is there a war going on that I don’t know about?”

“There is now,” Jace declared, leaving Clary and the Mundane behind to reach Alec.

“I think my mother is at the center of it,” Clary said somberly.

“What is this?” Alec asked Jace, gesturing toward the Mundane with impatience. It was extremely against protocol to bring Mundanes inside the Institute, and Jace knew that.

“A Circle member followed him to get to Clary,” Jace said harshly, striding alongside Alec to the command center.

“What exactly is a Circle member, and why are they trying to kill us?” The Mundane asked, following them inside.

“He wanted to take her, I don’t think they want her dead, but we can’t question him now, I had to take him down,” Jace said, ignoring the Mundane.

“He means he murdered the man,” the Mundane commented loudly.

“He’s with the people that took my mother,” Clary said breathlessly, almost running to keep up with them.

“I don’t get it,” Alec said in frustration. “What do they want from her? Why did they took her mother? It doesn’t make sense!”

Jace halted, grabbing Alec’s arm and making him stop too, which made Clary collide with them, and almost fall backwards on top of the Mundane. “He called her Fairchild,” Jace said with urgency.

“Fairchild?” Alec repeated to himself thoughtfully.  _ That _ was a Shadowhunter’s surname, and he had heard it recently, but he didn’t quite remember where. He crossed the command center in long strides, ignoring whatever it was the Mundane, Clary and Jace were discussing behind him, and stopped behind Izzy, who was still going through their databases, looking for information on Clary’s mother. “Izzy, expand the search to include anyone from the Fairchild family, please,” he ordered.

Izzy nodded, and immediately started over her search. While she did it, Alec looked around, Underhill was just about to end his shift, he had been in monitor duty for the night, so Alec knew he wasn’t too tired.

“Andrew,” he called. “There is a dead Circle member outside, can you take your team to pack him up, and bring him to the lab?”

“Yes, sir,” Underhill replied without hesitation, gesturing for Raj and Alison to follow him outside.

“Wait, you can’t do that,” the Mundane declared, moving his arms frantically. “You can’t go around messing with crime scenes!”

Alec looked at the Mundane with barely veiled annoyance for a moment, then gestured for Underhill to go ahead.

“If the Mundanes take the body to one of their labs they will realize there is something wrong with it, and that could expose us,” Jace explained, focusing on Clary and not on her friend, as if she had been the one concerned about it.

“They would realize you are a cold blooded killer?” The Mundane muttered sardonically.

“Either that, or the fact that the blood has cells that a normal human’s blood doesn’t have,” Izzy commented nonchalantly, catching everybody’s attention. “And I found a Jocelyn Fairchild in the Clave files,” she added, turning her chair to face Alec.

“My mother’s name is Jocelyn,” Clary said unsettled, getting closer to Izzy’s monitor, probably trying to see what it said about her mother.

“The file is under restricted access,” Izzy said, giving Alec a meaningful look.

Alec sighed, taking his tablet from his pocket and opening the system. He quickly tapped his password and searched the name. Jace got behind him and tried to peek at the screen over his shoulder, but Alec moved the tablet away from his line of sight, he was the only one there allowed to access restricted files, not even his  _ parabatai _ was authorized to look at them. He passed his eyes through the file and bit the inside of his mouth.

It was worse than Alec could've imagined.

Jocelyn Morgenstern, née Fairchild, was a member of the Circle who disappeared in the night of the Uprising, escaping prosecution. And she also happened to be Valentine’s wife. Like all the other unlocated members of the Circle, she was considered a fugitive, and all Heads of Institute were supposed to send her to the Clave for proper prosecution upon finding her.

Alec observed Clary for a second, before closing the file. She looked fidgety while staring back at him with expectation. There were no records of her in there, she had probably been born after her mother ran away.

“What about your father?” Alec asked seriously.

“He— He died before I was born—” Clary said, frowning. “His name was Jonathan Clark. Why?”

“There are no records of Jocelyn having a daughter here,” Alec said, gesturing with the tablet.

“Was she deruned?” Jace questioned, moving to stand between Clary and the Mundane, and making the Mundane glare at him.

Alec shook his head. “She was in the Circle,” he said, exchanging a quick glance with Izzy and Jace.

“The people who are trying to kill us?” The Mundane asked shocked.

“No, no, that can’t be right!” Clary cried out, making a move to take Alec’s tablet, but being stopped by Jace before she could even take a step ahead. “That’s wrong! It must be! She was taken by them, she is not with them!”

“We believe you,” Jace said, holding Clary’s arm delicately.

“Are any of you going to explain what this Circle is?” The Mundane asked, looking sideways at Jace and Clary.

Jace nodded, and explained in general terms about the Circle’s ideas, their leader, and how they had been stopped during the Uprising. While he did it, Alec thought over the information they had.

Jocelyn was in the Circle, but that didn’t mean much, his parents had been in the Circle too, as well as Jace’s parents, and the man who raised him. Being a former Circle member was not necessarily an indication on a person’s current beliefs. What was concerning was that she had been married to Valentine, and had stayed in hiding for all those years.

The girl said her father was dead, so Alec wondered if he was a Mundane that Jocelyn met after fleeing, or if Clary was Valentine’s daughter, but didn’t know his real name. Either way, he didn’t think it was a good idea to tell the girl that her mother had been married to the sociopath that had killed and tortured hundreds of Downworlders, and now captured her mother. At least not before he told the Clave.

“I’ll call Imogen and tell her who Clary’s mother is,” Alec said once he noticed that everyone around him had stopped talking.

“Alec, wait,” Jace said, grabbing his arm before he could walk away. “They will want you to send her to Alicante—”

“As I should,” Alec said firmly, glancing at the girl and her Mundane friend. “You were right, she doesn’t know anything, and since she doesn’t know anything there is no reason for us to keep her here.”

“You have no right to send me away! My mother is missing! I need to look for her!” Clary protested, crossing her arms over her chest. “You promised to help me,” she added, turning to Jace.

“You have no training and no idea of what you are facing,” Alec said as patiently as he could be, which wasn’t much in a normal day, and even less under the circumstances. “It’s a terrible idea to let you go around looking for the Circle. We will look for your mother, and send her to Alicante as soon as we find her.”

“No,” Clary said stubbornly, glaring at Alec. “I don’t care what you think, I’ll look for my mother, with or without your help—”

“I’ll train her,” Jace interrupted, probably feeling Alec's irritation. He stepped in front of Clary to look at Alec pleadingly, in a way he knew Alec had trouble saying no to. “Please, Alec, she may know more than she realizes, maybe she heard something, or saw something in her home, but didn’t know what it meant, and—”

“Alright,” Alec sighed, rubbing his eyes tiredly, and already regretting giving in. “But she is under your responsibility, I have no time to worry about her with everything that is going on.”

Clary opened her mouth to say something, but Jace interrupted her again; “Thank you,” he grinned, tapping Alec’s shoulder.

“And I’ll tell the Clave who she is,” Alec added after a moment. “They may want to interrogate her.”

Clary tried to protest again, but Jace stopped her; “Of course,” he said, nodding. “I’ll show her around the Institute, maybe she’ll recognize something.”

She was still glaring at Alec, when Jace indicated the stairs to the training room, and she uncrossed her arms to follow him. Her Mundane friend was about to do the same, when Jace stopped him.

“No, no, no,” Jace said, placing a hand on the Mundane’s shoulder. “Not you.”

“Hey, we are a package deal,” Clary said defiantly.

“Yeah.” The Mundane nodded emphatically.

“There are Runes all over the training room floor that would kill your mundie boyfriend,” Jace said seriously, making both Alec and Izzy snicker behind Clary’s back. Of course the Rune energy on the training room floor was not enough to hurt a Mundane, but Clary and her friend didn’t have to know that.

“He’s not my—” Clary said just as her friend said;

“I’m not, like—”

They hesitated and exchanged a look, making Jace sneer.

“We are— uh— just friends,” the Mundane said, blushing.

“Best friends,” Clary declared, locking eyes with the Mundane and smiling.

“Yeah, and I’m tough. I can handle Runes, so— uh— bring on the Runes,” he said, tapping Jace on the arm, then shaking his hand as if it was hurting. “What exactly are Runes?”

“They give Shadowhunters our Demon fighting powers,” Izzy said, getting up from her chair, and activating her Angelic Power Rune with her stele.

The Mundane turned to her, and opened his mouth dazedly as he looked Izzy up and down without blinking. “So hot.”

Alec and Jace exchanged a look, then cleared their throats at the same time, looking at the Mundane pointedly.

“The Rune,” the Mundane was quick to add, shaking his head and looking away from Izzy.

Izzy chuckled, taking a step forward and placing her hand on the Mundane’s arm. “Don’t worry Clary, I’ll watch over the— best friend,” she smiled seductively at him. “In fact, I was about to make breakfast.”

Jace snorted, shaking his head lightly. “On second thought, the Runes might be less lethal.”

“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that,” Izzy said, rolling her eyes dramatically. “Please excuse my brother’s lack of manners, this is Alec,” she said, pointing to him over her shoulder. “And I’m Isabelle,” she added, placing her hand in front of her, expecting the Mundane to kiss it, like her Seelie lovers did.

“Lewis,” he said, grabbing her hand and shaking it awkwardly. “Simon. Simon Lewis. Two first names. Am I still talking?”

Izzy giggled and Alec snorted, she was going to crush the boy’s heart if he weren’t careful.

“See, the best friend is safe and sound here,” Jace said mockingly.

“Jace, if anything happens to him—”

“Go on,” Simon interrupted Clary, without taking his eyes from Izzy. “I’ll be fine,” he declared, his gaze lingering a little too long on Izzy’s cleavage. “I think.”

Jace gestured for Clary to climb the stairs to the training room, but before following her, he placed a hand on Simon’s shoulder. “Hey, uh— don’t eat the food. It's dangerous,” he stage-whispered and left.

“Don’t listen to him, he is just being annoying,” Izzy said, lacing her arm with Simon’s.

“Seriously, Izzy?” Alec asked, raising his eyebrows in Simon’s direction.

“What?” Izzy asked in mock innocence. “I’m just taking care of him for Clary,” she smirked, before directing Simon to the residential wing.

Alec chuckled, shaking his head lightly. There wasn’t much he could do now that the Mundane knew about the Shadow World, so he might as well let Izzy have fun with him. He could always hire Magnus to wipe the Mundane’s memories later.

Thinking about Magnus as he went to bed in his old room made him sad. The mattress was hard and lumpy, the sheets were too harsh, and the room too cold, everything felt wrong, but most of all, it felt wrong to go to bed without his husband on his arms and Chairman Meow nested on his feet. He hated it. He could only hope it wouldn’t take too long for Magnus to finish setting up the safe house for the Warlocks, and come back home.

* * *

Someone knocking insistently on the door woke Alec up, not too long after he got to bed. He rubbed his eyes, looking around his old bedroom with annoyance, he couldn’t believe he used to sleep comfortably in there everyday for most of his life. Alec got out of the bed and stretched his back, already resenting whoever it was that was banging at his door so soon after he got to sleep.

He hated to admit it, but he was grumpy. Sleeping in an uncomfortable bed without his husband would do that to him. So he couldn’t avoid grunting when, after putting on a shirt, he opened the door to find Jace and Clary waiting for him.

“What is it now?” Alec asked impatiently, stepping into the hallway and closing the door behind him.

“The Mortal Cup,” Jace said quickly, probably feeling Alec’s bad mood through the bond.

“What?” Alec narrowed his eyes.

“We were talking to Hodge, he talked about Valentine and the Circle, and he said Valentine was planning to take the Cup during the Uprising, and Clary remembered that her mother said she took something from someone dangerous,” Jace said hastily.

“And you think it’s the Cup?” Alec asked reluctantly.

The mere thought of it gave him a headache, but it made some sense. Valentine didn’t have the Cup, he would’ve used it to overthrow the Clave years ago if he had it, but someone had stolen it during the Uprising. And Jocelyn was his wife, she might have taken it from him after he stole it, then she ran away. What didn’t make much sense was Jocelyn not returning the Cup to the Clave after everything was over, that would’ve made her a hero, certainly, and she wouldn’t have had to spend years living as a Mundane.

“It makes sense, doesn’t it?” Jace insisted, looking at Alec expectantly. “The Circle members were at Pandemonium for the Mundane blood, then they saw Clary, Hodge said she looks just like her mother, so they followed her to get to Jocelyn—”

“And trashed the house looking for the Mortal Cup,” Alec sighed tiredly, it felt like he hadn’t even slept. “But they mustn’t have found it, or they wouldn’t be coming after her now, they probably think she has it,” he added, gesturing to Clary with his head.

“I don’t!” Clary declared agitated. “I don’t even know what this Cup looks like! And what about my mom?”

“She must be refusing to tell them where the Cup is,” Jace concluded thoughtfully.

No one had to spell it out for them to understand it, Valentine could be torturing Jocelyn for the location of the Mortal Cup right that moment.

Clary widened her eyes, turned around and ran toward the command center. Jace ran after her, and Alec huffed tiredly, following them in a slower pace.

He found them at the entrance hall, Jace was holding Clary’s arm, and she was looking at him like a lost puppy.

“That’s precisely my point,” Jace was saying as Alec approached them. “You don’t know anything about this. You don’t know about us, you don’t know about our lives. But in the Shadow World, no training and no plan get you killed.”

Alec had to hold in a snort when he heard that. Jace was always the one ready for action without planning. But then again, at least he had years of training behind him, the girl had absolutely no idea of what she was doing.

Upon feeling that Alec was behind him, Jace let go of Clary’s arm, and she sighed, stepping away from him and leaning against the wall.

“So this Valentine is back and he wants the Cup, for some reason he thinks my mother has it…” she trailed off, looking lost.

“Could she?” Alec questioned, making Jace scowl at him.

“I don’t know,” Clary mumbled, covering her face with her hands. “I feel like I don’t know anything about my mother anymore.”

“Look, Clary, you know about Runes, you’ve drawn them. You must know something, think, please,” Jace insisted emphatically.

“I’ve tried okay?” She replied angrily, taking her hands from her face in a wild gesture, then walking back and forth in front of them. “It’s just this blackness whenever I try to remember about these Runes or— or Demons— or anything.”

“Blackness?” Jace repeated, turning to exchange a worried look with Alec.

Alec nodded. “Your memory must have been wiped,” he said thoughtfully. “Probably by a Warlock, encanto is not that strong, after learning about the Shadow World you would’ve remembered whatever it was that they wiped.”

“A Warlock?” Clary mumbled, looking confused.

“Yeah, a Warlock, Clary,” Jace said a little impatiently. “Immortal beings with magical powers, they are half Demon, half human, and—”

“Jace,” Alec interrupted in a warning tone.

“And generally lovely people,” Jace added, looking at Alec from the corner of his eyes. “Sometimes their fingers spark.”

“Dot!” Clary exclaimed in realisation. “My mom’s assistant. Her hands were glowing when she pushed me through the wall, and then I was at the police station.”

“That was a portal,” Jace declared, nodding. “Only Warlocks can create them.”

“But the Demon,” Clary said breathlessly. “The one that was in the loft, it was Dot, and—”

“No,” Alec interrupted her. “It was a Shapeshifter pretending to be your friend, Dot probably escaped before the Demon got there.”

“So if we find Dot, she can give me my memories back?”

“If she was the one that wiped your memory,” Jace shrugged noncommittally. “Maybe. That is, if she’s not working for Valentine, of course.”

Alec was about to say that he doubted any Warlock with a sense of self-preservation would work for Valentine, when Clary stopped pacing and stared at them.

“Even better,” she said in a cold tone. “She will lead us right to him.”

She passed by them and went back inside the Institute with her jaw set and a fiery look in her eyes. Jace and Alec just stood there, looking at her retreating back with concern.

“That’s not good, you know that, right?” Alec said as soon as the girl was out of earshot. “She will end up dead if she acts like that, and who knows who she will drag down with her.”

“She just needs to learn. I’ll teach her everything she needs to know,” Jace said, biting his lip, but Alec could feel that he was not so sure he would be able to do it. “I’ll make sure she understands.”

Alec told Jace that he had work to do at the office and that they would think of a way to find this Dot after, then let him run after the girl, again. Alec still had to update the Clave on the girl, check with his mother if any of the teams that came back while he was asleep had news on the Circle, and eat something, before going out searching for Dot.

Imogen was reluctant in allowing Clary to stay in New York, she wanted to interrogate the girl as soon as possible for information on her mother and the Mortal Cup, but once Alec told her about the wiped memories and the Warlock that was friends with Jocelyn, she accepted it, under the condition that Alec kept an eye on Clary personally. He definitely didn’t want that, he already had too much to do, and honestly, if it was up to him, he would’ve sent her to Alicante right away and let them deal with it, but there he was, and there wasn’t much he could do about it now.

She also informed him that the Seelies were sending scouts to look for Valentine, and that made Alec sigh in relief, he had been afraid the Downworlders would all pull away from the Clave now that Valentine was back, and they would lose all the progress they had made in the last two years.

A burst of agitation came from Jace’s side of the bond not too long after he finished talking to Imogen, and Alec sighed. Jace was probably ready to go after Dot and was impatient because Alec was taking too long in the office.

There was just one more thing he wanted to do before going out; Alec took his phone from his pocket and quickly texted Magnus to check if he was okay. He knew that it was hard to find a good signal at the Spiral Labyrinth, due to the magical interference, so Magnus hadn’t been able to call yet. But at least they managed to text. The last time he heard from Magnus he had just finished informing the Spiral Council about the Circle’s return and was about to send fire messages to all the Warlocks under his jurisdiction.

He found Jace at the training room with Clary, Izzy, and Simon a few minutes later, they were taking weapons from one of the safes and discussing something.

“The Mundane can go home now,” Alec said with indifference, approaching them and picking up an extra Seraph blade to take with him alongside his bow and quiver.

“He goes where I go,” Clary declared stubbornly, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Good,” Alec said condescendingly. “Then you can stay right here. That’s even better if you ask me.”

“I’m not staying here,” Clary said through her teeth. “I don’t care what that Clave thing wants or what you want, I’m going after Dot.”

“Listen,” Alec said with exasperation. “It’s already bad enough that we’ll have to carry you around when you have no idea how to defend yourself, he,” he pointed to Simon, “is a Mundane. Mundane doctors don’t know how to heal Demon inflicted wounds, we can’t use Runes to heal him, and the only people who would be able to help him, are being hunted by the Circle right now. If he gets hurt, he’ll die.”

“I can take care of myself,” Simon said without much confidence. “And I can drive!” He added excitedly. “Unless you have a Shadowhunter mobile or something.”

Alec rolled his eyes. “Suit yourself,” he grunted. “But don’t come blaming me if anything happens to the Mundane,” he added to Clary, who only glared at him stubbornly.

“Okay,” Simon said awkwardly, clapping his hands together. “How do we find Dot?”

“Do you have anything that belongs to this Dot?” Jace questioned Clary. “The smallest thing would do.”

Clary frowned for a few moments, before she widened her eyes. “Yes,” she said, raising her hand to her ear. “I was wearing her earrings.”

“I took them off while you were unconscious,” Izzy declared, shoving an extra dagger in her cleavage. “They are in the infirmary,” she added, striding away and being immediately followed by Clary.

Simon hesitated before following them, looking at the floor suspiciously. “You were kidding about the Runes on the floor killing me, right?”

Jace exchanged a glance with Alec and they both smirked. “Possibly,” Jace said, tapping Simon’s face lightly, before going to the infirmary.

“Wait,” Simon called, almost running after him. “Am I going to die?”

Alec snorted lightly, before going after them, at least he could always count on Jace and Izzy to keep a good mood.

The earrings were already in Jace’s hand when he got there. Of course Jace would want to be the one tracking. Alec was almost certain he was trying to look impressive in front of the girl, but refrained from commenting on it, he hoped to be wrong, there was too much they didn’t know about her, and the little they did was already bringing too many new problems.

“Can’t you do that to find my mom?” Clary asked Izzy, watching Jace attentively.

“It’s not that easy,” Izzy replied, shaking her head. “It doesn’t work if the person you are tracking is across water, or if they have a cloaking spell, or an anti-tracking Rune.”

“Oh,” Clary sighed as Jace grunted in frustration.

“She must be cloaking,” he declared, opening his eyes and unclenching his hand. “The signal is too weak,” he added, looking at Alec expectantly.

_ Parabatai _ tracking was stronger than regular Shadowhunter tracking. If there was a weak signal they could follow it by tracking together. Alec sighed, taking off his glove and standing in front of Jace, who grabbed his hand and locked eyes with Alec.

“Intimate, isn’t it?” Alec heard Clary murmuring behind his back, but didn’t let his mind focus on it.

The streets he could see in his mind were familiar, he walked through them often, then he saw a building and pulled away.

He knew where Dot was, and from the look on Jace’s face, he knew it too.

“Pandemonium,” Jace declared, exchanging a meaningful look with Alec.


	4. Chapter 4

For a few moments nobody talked. Izzy and Jace glanced at Alec with concern, and he bit the inside of his mouth, he wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do now. He certainly didn’t want to get in the way of Magnus protecting the other Warlocks, but they had to find Dot if they wanted to recover Clary’s memories and find the Mortal Cup.

“What?” Simon asked, looking at them doubtfully. “Are you sure this is accurate? I mean, why would Dot be at a nightclub? It’s not even open yet!”

Because it was where people went when looking for Magnus, of course. Dot was either going into hiding with the other Warlocks, or asking Magnus for help with the Jocelyn problem. Alec wondered if Magnus would be there, it was a good place to gather the Warlocks before sending them to the safe house, but everyone in the Shadow World knew it belonged to Magnus, certainly the Circle knew it too, it wouldn’t be the safest place for any of them.

No one answered Simon as they left the Institute and crossed the park to find his van. Alec’s mind was in Magnus, he checked his phone, and there were no new messages, but he didn’t worry much, he knew Magnus was busy.

He was so distracted that he almost crashed into Jace and Izzy, when they halted in front of the van. He raised his head to see why they had stopped so suddenly, and saw a huge Angelic Power Rune drawn on the side of the yellow van.

“Where did _ that _ come from?” He questioned, narrowing his eyes to Simon suspiciously.

“I drew it the other night,” Clary said distractedly, staring at the Rune too. “I didn’t even notice I was doing it.”

That was a little weird, but Alec didn’t know any Shadowhunters who were raised outside their world, so maybe it was normal to know some Runes even without being taught, or maybe she had seen the Rune before, on her mother or somewhere else, and didn’t have the memory anymore to explain where it had come from.

“Well, you’ll have to cover it up,” he said to Simon seriously. “It’s practically an invitation for Demons to come after you.”

Simon widened his eyes and nodded stiffly, before opening the van for them to climb in.

It took them a while to get to the club; the afternoon traffic was heavy and Simon’s van wasn’t exactly fast. Alec was sure they would’ve arrived at the club quicker running with their Speed Rune, but they had to take the Mundane with them, for whatever reason, so there they were.

When the van finally stopped in front of the club, Clary jumped off and ran inside without waiting for anyone, making Alec sigh in exasperation. Had no one ever told this girl that running towards unknown situations could get a person killed? Jace, Izzy and Simon ran after her immediately, but Alec trailed behind, looking around for any signs of the Circle.

The club was empty except for them. Jace and Alec tried to track Dot again, but she was nowhere to be found. They searched the club for any signs of her, but didn’t find anything.

It didn't take much for Clary to break down in the middle of the dance floor, and while Izzy, Jace and Simon tried to calm her down, Alec looked around biting the inside of his mouth. None of them could see the things he could.

The light comfortable buzz of Magnus’ magic, that was always present when his wards were up, was not there, and Alec knew Magnus always kept Pandemonium under some standard wards outside club hours. There was an empty martini glass on a table, and after taking a deep breath he felt a faint scent of sandalwood around the couch in the VIP area. Magnus had been there not too long ago, but he and the other Warlocks were probably far away now.

He checked his phone, and there he got the confirmation.

_ Just got to the safe house. A little depleted, but I’ve got just enough juice to portal back home. _

Alec shook his head, and answered rushedly. It was already too dangerous for Warlocks with the Circle hunting them, Alec didn’t even want to imagine how bad it would be if the Circle got to Magnus while he was depleted.

_ Stay there and rest. It’s not safe here now. _

“It’s not safe here,” Alec repeated out loud, approaching the others. “The wards are down, we have to get back to the Institute, right now.”

“So, what now?” Clary asked, glaring at Alec. “Valentine has my mom and Dot, and we are just gonna give up?”

“We can think on the next step at the Institute, where the Circle won’t be able to trap us,” Alec said, enunciating every word in an effort to make her understand the danger.

“What about my memories?” She asked, ignoring Alec and turning to Jace. “They can’t just be gone.”

“There is another option,” Jace said, glancing at Alec waryly.

“Absolutely not,” Alec said at the same time as Izzy;

“Don’t even—”

“I’m not afraid of the Silent Brothers,” Jace declared, crossing his arms over his chest, trying to look tough.

“Who are the Silent Brothers?” Clary questioned confused, looking from Izzy to Jace with her brow furrowed.

“They are Shadowhunters with superior powers,” Jace said simply.

“Who possess the ability to recover memories,” Izzy explained.

“A process that can also kill you, so there’s that,” Alec finished, raising an eyebrow to Clary.

“Your bedside manner is abysmal,” Simon commented derisively, pointing to Alec.

It was a terrible idea. Not only because the Soul-Sword could kill her, but also because he had to put on a formal request before sending someone to the Silent Brothers, and he was not so sure the Clave would want the girl to go there immediately, without exploring other options.

If they waited for only a day, Magnus would be back to examine the girl and figure out if he could undo the memory spell himself, no need to put anyone in danger.

But of course, she wanted everything right here, right now, and Jace was more than happy to help her with it, protocol and procedure be damned.

“It doesn’t matter anyway,” Jace said before Alec could do anything to stop him. “It’s Clary’s decision.”

“You can’t ask her to do this, she has no idea of what she’s facing!” Izzy protested, looking at Jace in a severe way that made her look too much like their mother. “She’s not prepared.”

“If anyone can tell me another way to recover my memories and still get the answers we need, I’m listening,” Clary said firmly.

Alec could think of more than one. It would take him one phone call to ask Magnus about this Dot, one portal for Magnus to come to them, and some of his magic to unveil the girl’s mind and at least give them a general idea of how her memories were wiped, but Magnus was depleted, and there was absolutely no way Alec would put him in danger right now.

“If you wait until tomorrow I can—”

“I can’t,” she interrupted before he could finish it. “My mom is missing, I can’t wait around and do nothing!”

“If you wait until tomorrow,” Alec repeated through his teeth as if she hadn't interrupted. “Then I can call someone to check your mind to figure out what kind of spell was performed.”

“What if it was your mother, hm?” Clary questioned confrontationally, making Jace shake his head and Izzy snort. 

“Not the best approach if you want him to be sympathetic,” Izzy said in an almost scornful tone.

“If it was my mother, she would be highly disappointed in me if I chose to put in risk our duties and other people’s lives in order to save her,” Alec stated without hesitation, making Clary look at him completely baffled.

“And she would probably throw in a lecture on proper Clave procedure, for safe measure,” Jace snickered.

“And of course she would criticize our collective lack of judgement in bringing a Mundane into it,” Izzy added, gesturing to Simon with her head.

“It doesn’t matter,” Clary huffed, throwing her arms up in frustration. “I won’t wait until tomorrow!”

“Alright,” Alec shook his head impatiently. “But you should know that depending on who wiped your memories, the Silent Brothers won't be able to uncover them,” he said seriously, making Izzy and Jace look at him questioningly. “A powerful enough Warlock could not only veil the memories, but sever them completely out of your mind. The Silent Brothers can only find what is still inside, if they are gone, there is nothing they can do.”

Clary stared at him for a few moments, before nodding stiffly. “No way of knowing without trying,” she said, walking towards the exit resolutely.

“See,” Jace grinned, tapping Alec in the shoulder. “Told you she’s one of us.”

“Yeah,” Alec sighed, shaking his head slowly. “Don’t forget to tell her that.”

When they finally got to the hidden entrance to the City of Bones, it was almost nightfall. Alec activated his Vision Rune and saw Izzy and Jace doing the same beside him, then they got out of the van and looked around for any signs of danger.

“Yeah, this place isn’t creepy,” Simon said sarcastically. “Not at all.”

Izzy chuckled, still searching for threats. “Don’t tell me you are afraid.”

Simon scoffed. “Are you kidding me? I was born afraid,” he said, making Jace snort. “Which sounded a lot better in my head,” he mumbled to himself.

“Let’s do a quick perimeter search,” Alec ordered, gesturing around, and both Jace and Izzy stood a little straighter, before spreading around without complains. They had never been the best at following protocol and obeying orders, but ever since Alec became the Head of the Institute, they always made an extra effort when he used that tone.

They reconvened a few steps away from the van. Neither Izzy nor Jace had anything out of the ordinary to report. Jace was about to sign for Clary and Simon to join them, when Alec grabbed his arm.

“If something goes wrong, if something happens to them, the Clave will blame me, you know that, don’t you?”

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Jace grimaced. “But Valentine is out here, looking for the Cup, and you know exactly what happens if he gets to it before we do,” he said emphatically, and Alec felt that old surge of anger through the bond.

“You could’ve at least convinced her to wait for Magnus to come back,” Alec said matter-of-factly.

“Well, I’m not sure he could,” Izzy shrugged, looking at Clary over Jace’s shoulder with her brow furrowed. “She doesn’t look like she wants to listen to anyone right now.”

“She has lost everything, she’s angry and feels like she has to do something or nothing will go back to normal,” Jace exhaled sharply. “I know exactly what that feels like.”

That’s what worried Alec. Jace could see himself on the girl, and that made him torn between being protective of her, and his old need for revenge for Michael’s death. Alec worried Jace would get himself and the girl killed if he didn’t keep a close eye on them. And to make things worse, every single decision Clary had taken so far showed him that she wouldn’t be anything close to a voice of reason in Jace’s life. Even the Mundane seemed more likely to take a reasonable decision than she was.

“Don’t worry,” Jace tapped his arm, probably misinterpreting Alec’s concern. “I won’t let anything happen to her.”

He called Clary over and guided her to the entrance of the City of Bones, Simon and Izzy just behind them, and Alec a few steps behind, keeping his attention on their surroundings.

The opening on the wall showed a statue of a Silent Brother and eskeletons surrounding it. Alec kept his eyes and ears on the shadows around them, not paying much attention to their conversation. It was only when Simon stepped ahead in the direction of the entrance that he focused on the others.

“All right, hold up,” Jace said, stopping Simon with a hand on his shoulder.

“Surprise, surprise,” Simon said mockingly, stepping away from Jace’s hand. “No Mundanes allowed, just like the training room, right? Wrong! I’ve seen every horror movie ever made, and the funny best friend who gets left behind,” he gestured to himself, “dead man.”

Izzy giggled lightly as Jace scoffed, crossing his arms. “You are not that funny,” he said. “But, by all means, go ahead.”

Simon looked from Jace to Izzy and Alec, then to the entrance before taking a deep breath and walking towards it.

“Of course, the minute you enter, you’ll die,” Jace declared with a smirk.

“The problem is, now I don’t trust you,” Simon huffed, throwing his arms up in frustration.

“He’s not lying,” Alec commented with indifference.

“Now,” Izzy grinned. “He was before.”

“The Rune energy in the City of Bones will kill any Mundane who dares to enter, so,” Alec pause, raising an eyebrow to Simon. “Please,” he added, gesturing to the entrance.

That did it, Simon walked away from the entrance, narrowing his eyes to Alec. “You really want to see me dead, don’t you?”

“I told you to go back home,” Alec shrugged nonchalantly. “You were the one who insisted in coming.”

Izzy sighed dramatically, moving to stand beside Simon. “The Brothers creep me out,” she said, lacing her arm with his. “I’ll mind the Mundane.”

“Your sacrifice is noted, Izzy,” Jace snorted.

“Talk about sacrifice, I’m missing a financial analysis class,” Simon said uneasily.

Alec looked from Izzy to Simon with narrowed eyes, then shook his head. “I can’t be here anymore,” he said, gesturing to Simon’s face with his hand. “I’m gonna mind the perimeter.”

If Clary wanted to go inside and have her mind probed by the Silent Brothers, so be it. If they got any relevant information out of it, good; if she lost her mind because of it, she was the one to blame. He would tell the Clave the truth, that he advised against this course of action, but other than the lack of proper protocol, there wasn’t much the Clave could complain about when the Silent Brothers were the ones conducting the procedure.

Alec climbed the railing of the bridge they were under, and perched himself up there. He had an unrestricted view of a good stretch of the path and of the entrance to the City of Bones, where Izzy and Simon were. He kept watch for a few minutes, then picked his phone from his pocket and checked if Magnus had sent any other messages.

_ I’ll miss your little snores. _

Alec chuckled, looking at his phone fondly, before answering;  _ I don’t snore. Is everything alright there? _

_ Boring, _ Magnus answered immediately. _ Everybody is wary of what’s going on, it doesn’t make good grounds for a party. _

Alec snorted. _ As if that ever stopped you from throwing one anyway. _ Then after a moment he sent another message; _Did you manage to get everybody there? _

_ Some of the Warlocks didn’t show up to the meeting, I don’t know if they are trying to hide on their own or if the Circle got to them before I did. And some showed up but didn’t want to come with us. _Magnus wrote.

_ Catarina and Madzie? _Alec asked.

_ Right here, safe and sound. _Magnus replied.

Alec sighed in relief, before putting his phone down and looking around once again, everything was still quiet, but he had the eerie feeling of being watched. He pocketed his phone and jumped down, going back to the entrance to wait with Izzy and Simon, just in case.

He leaned against the wall, crossing his arms and keeping his eyes on the path, trying and failing to avoid listening to Izzy flirting with Simon, who seemed to be completely oblivious to it.

“So, is cracking someone’s mind open supposed to take this long?” Simon asked nervously after a few minutes. “Maybe we—” he hesitated and gestured to Alec, “or you— should go check?”

“Jace has it covered,” Alec replied with annoyance. There was a feeling of agitation and wariness coming from Jace, but Alec assumed it was just the general feeling of walking through the City of Bones and watching as the Silent Brothers carved into someone’s head with the Soul-Sword.

Izzy chuckled, playing with her hair and leaning closer to Simon. “Take my word for it; the Silent Brothers are quite unpleasant.”

“That’s not helping, not at all,” Simon mumbled, looking agitated. “What if Clary can’t handle it?” He stammered, no more than a second later. “What if— What if it hurts her, and—”

“It literally never stops talking,” Alec said with exasperation.

“Is he always this charming?” Simon asked sarcastically, gesturing to Alec with his thumb.

“Not really,” Izzy frowned, giving Alec a quick glance, before turning back to Simon. “He gets a little extra grumpy when he spends too much time away from his better half.”

“Oh,” Simon said, looking at Alec with surprise. “You have a girlfriend?” He asked, and Izzy giggled.

“Do I look straight to you?” Alec asked impassively, raising one eyebrow to Simon.

“Well,” Simon shrugged, blushing. “I don’t assume.”

“Good for you,” Alec scoffed, trying to cover up a chuckle.

“What about you?” Izzy asked, using a finger to turn Simon’s head to her and looking into his eyes intensely. “Do you have a special someone?”

“Me?” Simon asked dumbly. “Well— I— uh— Not really.”

Alec snorted to himself. It couldn’t be more obvious. The Mundane was carrying a torch for Clary, but she didn’t want anything with him. It couldn’t be fun for him to run around after Clary just to watch her drooling for Jace. Alec was almost feeling sympathetic, until Izzy wrapped herself around Simon and guided him back to the van, that is.

“Where is it going?” Alec asked, gesturing to Simon with his hand.

“We’ll be right back,” Izzy said, winking suggestively, making Alec raise his brows to her judgmentally. “What? He passes the time.”

“I can hear you guys, you know,” Simon interrupted, sound slightly offended, before Izzy chuckled and pushed him through the path.

A few years ago Alec would worry that his sister could get hurt by getting involved with someone who was smitten by someone else, but now he was confident she knew the difference between something casual and something serious. Also, she knew how dangerous it was to let Mundanes into the Shadow World, she wouldn’t let this fling get anywhere close to an actual relationship.

It took some time for Jace and Clary to come back from the City of Bones. Izzy and the Mundane didn’t come back from the van, and Alec assumed they had found a way to pass the time with each other, he surely wouldn’t want to see whatever it was they were doing, so he tried to just keep watch and not worry too much about things.

But he was feeling restless and he wasn’t sure if it came from him or from Jace. He looked around attentively, examining every shadow, trying to find the threat his instincts were trying to warn him about to no avail.

Nothing moved, there were no unusual sounds, and he couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary, so why was he so perturbed?

The moment Jace and Clary walked out of the City of Bones, he got it. Jace was nervous, but it wasn’t normal, it was as if he was consciously trying to keep his feelings from Alec, something they had stop doing years ago. But even if he didn’t have a direct link to Jace’s feelings, he would’ve been able to tell something was wrong upon seeing his face.

“What happened? What did you find out?”

“Valentine is Clary’s father,” Jace declared somberly, without preamble.

Alec closed his eyes and brought his hands to his temples. It was exactly what he didn’t even want to consider earlier. It kind of explained why Jocelyn had kept hiding and pretending being Mundane after so many years, she probably suspected Valentine was alive, and was trying to protect Clary from her sociopathic father. And Valentine mustn’t have known that Clary existed until now, or he would’ve started looking for her years ago, Alec assumed.

“Oh, this is bad,” he muttered, shaking his head slowly, still with his eyes closed. “This is so bad.” He opened his eyes and looked at Jace apologetically. “She can’t stay at the Institute, Jace—”

“You think I have anything to do with him?” Clary cried out in outrage. “You think I wanted any of this? For my mom to be kidnapped? Or— or for Dot to be taken— Or to have a giant sword dangling over my head and— and—”

“Calm down, will you?” Alec said through his teeth, pressing his fingers to his temples. “I was about to say that it’s not safe for you at the Institute. I don’t think you have anything to do with Valentine. Your mother had the Mortal Cup, if you were working for Valentine he would already have it, wouldn’t he?”

“I—” Clary breathed out shakily, but didn’t say anything for another second. “How would we know?” She asked, slightly calmer. “If he had the Cup, how would we know?”

“There would be a lot of Mundanes dying,” Jace stated, exchanging a glance with Alec. “He would be trying to form an army to overthrow the Clave, and most of the Mundanes that drink from the Cup die.”

“And we would have more Demons after us,” Alec said, dropping his hands and glancing around, before focusing on Clary. “The Cup can control Demons.”

“But he sent the Shapeshifters, didn’t he?” Clary asked trembling. “Doesn’t that mean he has the Cup?”

“Shapeshifters are greedy bastards,” Jace shrugged casually. “He probably made a deal with them or something like that, it’s easy enough, they rarely survive long enough to collect.”

Clary nodded slowly, probably trying to absorb what they were telling her, then she looked around frowning.

“Where’s Simon?” She questioned Alec.

“Do I look like the Mundane’s babysitter for you?” Alec retorted, furrowing his brow.

Before Clary could say anything else, they heard something behind them and turned to find Izzy running up the path, alone.

“Where’s Simon?” Clary repeated frantically.

“I told him to stay in the van,” Izzy said apologetically. “I’ve searched everywhere.”

“You’ve lost him?” Clary asked horrified.

“I can’t find him,” Izzy sighed, shaking her head regretfully.

“You were supposed to protect him!” Clary screamed, extending her hands as if to grab Izzy.

Before he could even think about it, Alec’s big brother instincts kicked in, and he stepped in front of Izzy, glaring Clary down. “He shouldn’t be here to begin with. Whose fault is that?”

“Alec, not now,” Izzy muttered behind him, as Clary looked at him furiously, before running to the van yelling Simon’s name. Once more Alec had to wonder if her mother had never taught the girl anything about self-preservation, it sure didn’t look like she had.

“Ugh,” Jace complained exasperated. “These Mundanes are killing me.”

They ran after Clary, looking around for any clues of what could’ve happened to Simon, while she just screamed his name frantically. For a brief moment, Alec thought about how the girl seemed to have no idea how to search for people properly, but kept losing them.

“Simon!”

“Oh, is that your name, little mundie?” A voice asked from afar.

They turned at once, already taking out their weapons, to see three Vampires Alec didn’t recognize, holding Simon upside down on top of the railings.

“You are interfering with Mundanes,” Alec said in his Head of the Institute tone. “Are you aware that under Alliance laws we can report you to the leaders of the Vampires and they will banish you?”

“Alliance laws protect people who don’t belong to the Shadow World, Mr Lightwood,” the Vampire retorted snickering. “This Mundane obviously knows about Shadowhunters, thus, he is considered, under international convention, a part of the Shadow World.”

“He is still a Mundane,” Izzy yelled through her teeth. “You can’t take him against his will.”

“Who is to say if he is coming against his will or not?” The Vampire shrugged.

“I’m saying it!” Simon yelped, holding his glasses with one of his hands and trying to push the Vampire holding him with the other. “I’m saying it!”

“Hearsay is not admissible as evidence, ain’t I right, Mr Head of the Institute?” The Vampire mocked, ignoring Simon completely. “Send the Vampire representatives over, if they find dear Simon being held against his will, he will surely be free to go.”

“What do you want?” Clary wailed from behind Alec.

“Our leader is interested in a certain antique she heard you have, Clarissa Fairchild,” the Vampire said, grinning, obviously having fun with the whole thing. “Bring it to her, and she’ll send dear Simon back with you, no problems.”

“She,” Alec murmured to himself.

“You can’t be serious,” Izzy responded with exasperation.

“Who is your leader?” Jace asked at the same time.

“Mr Lightwood knows who she is,” the Vampire sneered, winking at Alec, before disappearing into the night with Simon.

“Simon! No!” Clary wept and moved as if she was going to run after them, but Jace caught her by the waist before she could go too far. “Simon!”

Alec surely knew who their leader was. It wasn’t all that difficult to put the pieces together. There was only one female Vampire leader who had a problem with him.

“Camille,” Alec snarled.


	5. Chapter 5

Izzy and Jace turned their heads to him at the same time at the mention of Magnus’ ex. Alec couldn’t say he was unphased by Camille, it had always been a sore spot for him, and his siblings knew all about it. But now was not the time to dwell on his insecurities, he shook his head to his siblings, and focused on the problem ahead.

While Clary screamed for Simon over and over again, Alec formulated a plan of action to get the Mundane back without giving Camille anything.

From what the Vampire had said, Camille would probably use encanto or feed on Simon in order to make him complacent. If they took too long, it would look like he was there willingly when the Vampire representatives arrived. But she probably hadn’t counted on the fact that Alec was friends with the leader of the biggest coven in New York.

The Staten Island coven, that Camille had taken over a few years back, after Raphael shooed her away from the Dumort, wasn’t a match to Raphael’s coven. And knowing Raphael, Alec was confident he could go in and out without a fuss, Raphael wouldn’t even have to fight her and her coven, a few chosen words to the right people would probably get the job done.

“Simon!” Clary sobbed again, making Alec scoff.

“Can I say it now?” He asked with gloomy satisfaction.

“Please, don’t,” Jace grimaced, trying to comfort Clary and failing miserably.

Alec ignored him. “I told you it wasn’t a good idea to bring him,” he said, looking at Clary with a sardonic raised brow.

She shrieked furiously, and for a moment Alec thought she was going to attack him, but instead she dropped to her knees and started crying even harder.

“Really, Alec?” Jace grunted, crouching down and trying to get Clary from the floor. “Did you really have to?”

“Actions have consequences,” Alec said seriously. “I'd rather she learned it sooner than later.”

Izzy looked at Alec and sighed. “Sometimes you are so professional and mature that I forget you are not all that older than us, but then you go and do that,” she said, joining Jace at trying to get Clary from the floor. “Come on,” she pulled Clary’s arms up impatiently. “The sooner we get back to the Institute, the sooner we can get Simon back.”

Clary sobbed once more, but nodded, getting up, much to Jace’s relief. He, like Alec, had never quite learned how to deal with crying people.

“Do you know how to drive?” Jace asked her awkwardly, indicating the van with his head.

She rubbed her eyes and nodded, walking around the van and getting to the driver’s seat.

The trip back to the Institute was bumpier than the one to the City of Bones had been, Clary wasn’t the best driver, but they made it in one piece. Somewhere along the way, she stopped crying and started blaming them for everything. They walked inside with Clary still running her mouth about how they had failed by allowing Simon to be taken.

“It doesn’t matter!” She screeched, when Alec pointed out again that he had warned her about taking Simon with them. “Once he was there, Isabelle promised to look after him, and then she left him alone!”

“Look,” Jace interjected placatingly. “You heard them, they won’t kill Simon, Camille just wants the Cup, and she thinks you have it.”

“But why would she think that,” she replied furiously. “Why does anyone think that? What? My mom lies to me my entire life, except: ‘Oh, by the way, there’s this magic Cup, I hid on, like, planet Bongo, but don’t tell anyone,’” She said sarcastically, waving her arms around with a wild look in her face. Then she deflated; “What am I supposed to do now?”

There wasn’t much she could do, in fact, things would probably go better if she wasn’t involved. It had been less than a day since she woke up, and Alec already knew that much.

“I’ll send a memo to the Clave,” Alec stated, impassive to her tantrum, crossing the entrance towards the command center. “They have to know what we’ve learned about Valentine.”

“What? That he is my father?” Clary asked confrontationally, stepping in front of him and blocking the way. “Fine, great, tell them. What good does that do Simon?”

“It’s all connected, Clary,” Jace stated, leaning against the wall and crossing his arms. “Camille wants the Cup, and—”

“Why?” Clary interrupted loudly, throwing her arms up in frustration. “It makes new Shadowhunters. What use could the Vampires have for it?”

“No one wants Valentine to form a new army loyal to himself,” Jace shrugged. “Especially not the Downworlders.”

“Plus it controls Demons,” Izzy added with a tired sigh. “Having control over Demons would give Camille advantage over us and the other Downworlders, she would be able to do whatever she wanted while keeping all of us too busy to stop her.”

Alec and Jace nodded their agreement before Alec said thoughtfully; “And Camille lost a lot with the Alliance, so even this veiled threat could be her trying to force us into breaking it.”

It made sense. He knew, more from Raphael than from Magnus, how manipulative she could be.

Under the Alliance she had almost no power within the Shadow World, while Raphael and Magnus were the official representatives for the Vampires and Warlocks of New York, respectively, she wasn’t anything more than the leader of a small coven.

If she reverted back to her old ways now, she would end up locked away or staked to the heart, most likely sooner than later, the other Vampires wouldn’t want her tainting their reputation with the other Downworlders and the Clave. With the end of the Alliance, she would be able to get back to the top.

“So, the Vampires will trade Simon for the Cup and Valentine will trade my mom for the Cup. Either way, I lose someone I love,” Clary whined, pulling Alec away from his thoughts. “What if I just toss it up in the air and let them fight for it among themselves?”

Alec stared at her through narrowed eyes for a second, he couldn’t quite believe she had just said that. “So, this doesn’t matter to you?” He asked with revulsion.

“Yes, of course it matters,” she grunted at Alec, moving around him to get to Jace. “Listen, when you saved me I put my trust in you.” A twinge of guilt came from Jace, and Alec almost growled at her. “Now I need you to put your trust in me, I can’t become what you are overnight.”

“It’s true, she was raised as a Mundane,” Izzy pointed out. “She’ll need time to learn and—”

“It doesn’t matter,” Alec interrupted her, still observing Clary attentively. “Shadowhunters follow rules, protocols, and the chain of command, we don’t go around dragging Mundanes who can’t defend themselves into danger, you want to become one of us? Can you learn how to listen to other people?”

“I already got it that you think this is all my fault,” she snarled, stomping her foot and looking up at him angrily. “Now can you find a way to get Simon back or are you going to keep guilt-tripping me?”

Alec snorted, shaking his head at her hypocrisy, before leaving them behind and going into the command center. She obviously didn’t care for the consequences of her actions and didn’t seem to want to learn, it was a waste of time trying to talk to her as if she was a reasonable person.

Maryse approached them and handed Alec his tablet, looking at Clary over his shoulder, with her brow furrowed. “What is going on?” She asked.

“Just a conflict with a small coven, nothing to worry about,” Alec told her dismissively, and heard a cry of protest from Clary before she stomped away. He waited for a moment until Izzy and Jace followed her in a hurry, then told his mother hushedly; “I’ll probably have to leave again before dawn, the girl will stay here, can you keep an eye on her for me?”

“Of course,” Maryse said resolutely. “Anything else?”

“Valentine is her father,” Alec sighed tiredly, rubbing his face with a hand. “I think she is in more danger than she realizes, or cares, for that matter.”

Maryse nodded, and looked over her shoulder to the training room, where Izzy and Jace were trying to placate Clary. “Go, solve _ that _ before they do something stupid.”

Alec looked at them and grimaced. “Was I ever able to do that?”

Maryse chuckled and tapped Alec’s arm lightly. “Better than me,” she shrugged, walking away.

As Alec climbed the stairs to the training room, he heard Clary demanding; “Where is he, anyway? Some kind of crypt in Transylvania?”

“No, they are locals,” Jace said, looking at Clary questionably. “How do you think they would get from here to Transylvania before sunrise, anyway?”

“I don’t know!” Clary whined indignantly.

“It’s Camille,” Alec stated, leaning against the wall. “She took over the Staten Island coven a few years back.”

“Why are we here, then? If you know where the Vampires have Simon, why aren’t we going there?” Clary asked agitated, already going toward the stair to the command center. “Now! Come on, let’s go!”

“We can’t just barge in and take Simon back,” Izzy stated, making Alec and Jace nod.

“Why not?” Clary questioned, gritting her teeth. “There are all these Shadowhunters here,” she said, gesturing to the command center, where indeed, they had at least twenty other Shadowhunters on monitor duty or coming back from patrols. “Why can’t we ask them to help us get Simon back?”

“Well, for starters, they only follow orders from our superiors,” Jace said, gesturing to Alec with his head.

“And you aren’t exactly doing a good job at gaining sympathy from our superiors, are you?” Izzy snorted, raising a sarcastic eyebrow to Clary.

That made Clary pause.

She turned and looked at Alec through narrowed eyes for a second. “You are their superior?” She asked scornfully. And Alec just shrugged, not thinking her tone dignified an actual response. “Then why can’t you just send them out there to bring Simon back?”

“Because we can’t interfere with Vampire affairs,” Alec said with very little patience. “The Alliance—”

“I don't care about your stupid rules and stupid Alliance,” Clary screeched, getting red in the face with anger. “They took Simon, there is no way the law allows that! We need to save him!”

“Stupid Alliance?” Alec muttered through his teeth. She could ruin everything he had worked for and she couldn’t care less. “It took us sixteen years to get the Downworlders to trust us enough to sign our  _ stupid Alliance _ after  _ your father _ tried to kill them all, I won’t allow you to put it in risk.”

“And I won’t allow the Vampires to hurt Simon!” Clary screamed at Alec, making most of the Shadowhunters in the command center look at them with widened eyes. It wasn’t everyday that they saw their commander being yelled at by anyone, much less someone half his size with absolutely no fighting skills.

“And what do you propose we do, hm?” Alec questioned firmly, in a low tone, refusing to lose his composure to a bratty girl. “You want us to kick the door down and kill everyone in our way? Is that what you think we have to do? Get inside their home and threaten them, like they have no rights? Because let me tell you something; most of the people from the coven have nothing to do with Camille’s plans, most of them don’t even know Simon is there.”

“And what is your solution, then? Do nothing?” Clary replied, crossing her arms over her chest, still speaking way too loudly for Alec’s liking. “You are going to let them feed on Simon and kill him!” She shook her head, staring at Alec with disgust. “I guess I’ll just take care of it myself,” she declared, stomping away toward the front door.

Before she could go too far, Alec gestured for Izzy to go after her, he had no interest in running after the girl to stop her from doing something stupid if she managed to get outside the Institute.

Once they were alone, Jace sighed deeply, running his fingers through his hair. “What _ will _ we do?” He asked, looking worn out.

“This is a Vampire matter, so we will call a Vampire,” Alec answered simply, taking his phone from his back pocket and dialing Raphael. “You know as well as I do that the Vampires have no interest in allowing Camille to run rampage through the city kidnapping and killing Mundanes.”

Jace nodded in agreement and was about to say something else, but Alec raised his finger to indicate that Raphael had answered the phone.

It didn’t take Alec more than a couple of minutes to explain everything. Raphael told him about his contacts in all the covens in the area, and that he was certain he would be able to get someone from Camille’s coven to help them get the Mundane back without problem.

While he waited for Raphael to call him back, Alec went to his office and sent an update on the girl to the Clave, before going through some patrol reports, he couldn’t slack off with the Circle roaming his jurisdiction. About half an hour later, Raphael sent him a text with an address in Staten Island and instructions to wait for him there.

For a second, Alec considered going grab Jace and Izzy to go with him, but he would rather not even inform Clary that he was about to go get her friend back, from what he had seen so far, the girl would insist in coming with him, and he really didn’t want to hear her screeching again once he told her that he wouldn’t take her. He put his jacket back on and grabbed his bow and quiver, before leaving his office.

Unfortunately for him, someone had informed Clary the location of his office, and she was waiting for him outside, stomping her foot on the floor with her arms crossed. He did his best to ignore her and strode away, not wanting to keep Raphael waiting.

“Where are you going?” She demanded confrontationally, running to keep up with him. “We still need to get Simon back, if you are in charge then it’s your job to do something!”

Alec was almost at the entrance, with Clary still on his heels, when someone grabbed his arm, making him stop.

“What?” Alec snapped impatiently, turning around to find Jace and Izzy staring back at him with matching frowns.

“You are not going alone,” Jace said firmly, without releasing Alec’s arm. “I know Raphael will be there, I don’t care, I won’t let you go anywhere without me. Especially not after Camille.”

“Raphael will do everything, all I’ll have to do is bring the Mundane back, Jace,” Alec said hushedly, looking at his watch and cursing himself for not thinking of just jumping out of his window. “It will take me more time to get there than anything else.”

“You are going after Simon?” Clary gasped, looking up at him with widened eyes.

“Of course he is going after Simon,” Izzy snorted, rolling her eyes. “You thought Alec was going to just let Camille keep the Mundane?”

“It sure looked like it,” Clary mumbled, before setting her jaw and staring at Alec with determination. “I’m coming with you.”

“No, you are not going anywhere,” Alec stated in his most authoritative tone, there was no way he would allow this girl to get in the way, especially when she had already shown him that she had no regards for the Alliance, it was too risky.

“He is my friend! I have the right to go!”

“You are an untrained Shadowhunter, under my Institute’s jurisdiction,” Alec said inexpressibly. “Taking you with us wouldn’t only be extremely irresponsible, it would be dangerous.”

“You can’t be serious!” Clary screeched. “You have no right to tell me what to do!”

“Well, that’s where you are wrong, isn’t it?” Alec snorted without humor. “I have every right to tell you what to do while you are in my Institute, if you don’t like it, I can always send you to Alicante, like I should have from the moment you woke up.”

“Alec, please,” Jace said in a calming tone, looking from Alec to Clary warily.

“She is a risk, Jace, maybe not for us, but for herself and for the Mundane. Taking her with us would be the same as taking Max,” Alec said firmly, then shook his head. “No, it wouldn’t,” he snorted. “Max actually knows how to defend himself, taking him would be less of a liability.”

Izzy made a weird choking noise, and when Alec turned to her, he saw that she was shaking, trying to contain her laughter. He had to bit the inside of his lips not to laugh with her, it wouldn’t be professional.

“If you have a problem with that, you can always stay behind with her,” Alec offered Jace, gesturing to Clary with his head. “But she isn’t coming, and that’s final.”

Jace looked at Alec through narrowed eyes, and Alec felt a flash of worry through their bond. “And let you fly through a window again?” He huffed. “No, you aren’t going anywhere without me, _ parabatai_.”

Clary looked from Alec to Jace and back gawping, then grunted and stormed away, toward the residential wing. Izzy was about to go after her, when Alec placed a hand on her shoulder.

“You can stay and babysit if you want, or you can come with us, it’s up to you,” he said, gesturing to the door with his head. “But we don’t have any time to lose, Raphael can’t help us once the sun rises.”

Izzy nodded with a big smile, and they left the Institute together, as it should be, at least in Alec’s opinion.

“You know she’ll try to escape and follow us, don’t you?” Izzy asked as they boarded the subway. “She knows we are going to Staten Island.”

“I would like to see her trying,” Alec chuckled, sitting down and looking through the window.

“Who’s the babysitter?” Izzy asked, grinning.

“Mom,” Alec stated simply, making Izzy snicker.

“She has no chance.”

Jace just looked at them and shook his head. “She’s not that bad.”

“She’s not,” Izzy agreed slowly. “But she sure throws more temper tantrums than Max and Madzie combined.”

Alec and Izzy laughed loudly, and even Jace couldn’t avoid chuckling. They spent the rest of the way chatting about nothing important, trying to put all their problems away for a little while.

Raphael was already waiting outside the building when they finally got there. “And Magnus?” He asked while Alec shook his hand and gave him an one armed hug.

“He took the Warlocks into hiding,” Alec said, as Izzy and Jace stepped ahead to greet Raphael. “Last time I talked to him he was bored out of his mind,” he half-smiled fondly.

“Better bored than kidnapped by Valentine,” Raphael stated seriously.

Alec sighed and nodded. “Any Vampires missing?” He didn’t think it was the case, from what they had gathered, Valentine was only interested in Warlocks and Clary for now, but still, things changed quickly in their line of work.

“Not for now, but who knows what’s going to happen if he finds the Mortal Cup?” Raphael shrugged, observing Alec attentively.

“You know about that already?” Jace grimaced.

“News travel fast in the Shadow World, Herondale,” Raphael replied, tilting his head and raising an eyebrow to Jace. “Especially when you have the right connections.”

“Any of your connections can give me a nudge in Valentine’s general direction?” Alec asked without much hope, if Raphael knew where to find Valentine, he would’ve told Alec and the other Downworld representatives already, but it never hurt to ask.

“No one that I can think of right now,” Raphael said with a half-shrug. “What’s with the Mundane?”

“Same as always,” Alec said, rolling his eyes. “Got caught up with the wrong people.”

“The girl?” Raphael asked impassively.

“Yep,” Alec winced, making Raphael break his generally stoic expression for a second, biting his lips to keep himself from smiling.

“Good luck with that,” Raphael said, before gesturing for them to stay, and walking inside the building.

“You didn’t tell us you talked to Magnus,” Izzy said softly, leaning against Alec, but keeping her eyes fixed on the building in front of them.

“We were a bit busy,” he shrugged. It was not that he didn’t want to talk to his siblings about Magnus, it was more that talking about him out loud made Alec miss him even more.

“Everything alright?”

Alec hummed noncommittally, Magnus didn’t like other people knowing when he was depleted, not even Izzy and Jace, and Alec respected that. “He’s mostly bored,” he snorted. “But he needs to stay for a while longer, the other Warlocks need him.”

“Two whole nights away from the hubby?” Jace snickered, tapping Alec on the shoulder. “Must be a new record.”

“Don’t be a dick,” Alec said, hiding a smile. “And the record is three nights, if you really wanna know.”

“And when was that?” Izzy said in a taunting tone, looking like she was trying to remember such absurdity.

“Iris Rouse,” Alec said as an explanation, they didn’t need more than that to understand.

“That doesn’t count,” Izzy accused playfully, shoving him with her shoulder. “He spent all day at the Institute with you and only went home after you fell asleep. When was the last time you really didn’t see him for more than 36 hours?”

“Before I met him?” Alec said simply, tilting his head thoughtfully, they had never had a reason to spend so much time apart before.

“You two are hopeless,” Izzy giggled, resting her head on Alec’s shoulder.

“No wonder you are extra cranky lately,” Jace teased, making Alec roll his eyes.

“Oh, yeah, nothing to do with your new girlfriend losing people left and right and wailing for us to find them,” he retorted, raising his eyebrows to Jace.

“Touché,” Jace answered, making a conceding gesture with his hand.

Raphael was efficient and quiet, they didn’t hear a thing of what was going on inside the building, even with the aid of their Heightened Hearing Runes, but a few minutes after he went inside, he came back out, practically carrying Simon over his shoulder.

“Camille?” Alec asked soberly, his eyes still fixed on the entrance of the building, making sure no one was coming after Raphael.

“Left before I got here,” Raphael huffed with some frustration. “It doesn’t matter anyway, I wouldn’t be able to do anything on my own, but I’ll report this,” he gestured to Simon, “to the other representatives and we’ll see what we can do with her.”

“Is he okay?” Izzy asked, watching Simon with a worried frown.

“She drank a lot,” Raphael said, still holding Simon upright. “Maybe give him a blood replenishing potion?”

“I’m sure I can find one in the loft,” Alec replied, finally looking at Simon; he was sickly pale and sweaty, his eyes were dilated, and his mouth smeared with blood.

“You saved me?” Simon asked shakily, looking up at Alec with glassy eyes.

“Did he—” Alec said hesitantly, ignoring him and focusing on Raphael.

“I believe so,” Raphael said, nodding gravely. “Not enough to become a Subjugate, I don’t think,” he added, analysing Simon for a second. “Just make sure to keep him alive for the next few weeks and he should be good.”

Alec sighed, nodding slowly. “Thank you.”

Jace took Raphael’s place, holding Simon upright, and Raphael gave each of them a quick nod before speeding away, it wouldn’t take much longer for the sun to rise, and he had to get back to the Dumort before it.

“You came to save me?” Simon repeated dazedly as Alec and Jace pulled him away from the building.

“No, I always come here for a walk in the wee hours of the morning,” Alec said ironically.

“I thought you didn’t like me,” Simon mumbled, wobbling on his feet.

“We don’t,” Jace declared, pulling one of Simon’s arms over his shoulder to keep him upright.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I hope you are all enjoying this fic so far!!  
I'm here to tell you that I'll probably take a holiday break for family stuff until january (2 weeks more or less); I would honestly prefer to stay home and write, but unfortunately it's not really an option this year. Anyway, happy holidays for everybody! And I'll see you all soon!
> 
> (And today is my birthday! Yay!)


	6. Chapter 6

Their way back to the Institute was certainly the most peaceful part of Alec’s past couple of days. He watched the city go by through the window of the train without thinking much of anything, with Izzy leaning against him, resting her head on his shoulder, and Simon blabbing non-stop leaning against Jace, for the first time, the Mundane talking nonsense was not bothering Alec, it felt like white-noise in his exhausted mind.

Simon fell asleep in the ferry, and without him awake to see it, Jace carried him bridal style without problems from the ferry station to the subway platform.

By the time they finally got back to the Institute, the sun was up, and they were completely exhausted. As it was usual for the first hours of the morning, the command center was almost empty, with only Maryse and the skeleton crew there to see them carry Simon to the infirmary.

“Where’s Clary?” Jace asked Maryse, dropping Simon on a bed unceremoniously.

“Locked in a bedroom,” Maryse said impassively, as she swiftly gauged Simon’s blood pressure and checked his breathing.

“What?” Jace asked startled, widening his eyes. “Why?”

“Underhill caught her trying to sneak out after you left,” Maryse said, raising an unimpressed eyebrow to Jace. “Considering who her father is, and the fact that we know next to nothing about this girl, we decided to lock her up, otherwise we’d risk a security breach.”

“She’s not working for the Circle!” Jace huffed in frustration.

“She may not be working for the Circle, but she sure has a problem with listening to others,” Izzy snorted, shaking her head lightly.

“As if you were any better at listening,” Jace said mockingly.

“Chill out,” Izzy said, rolling her eyes at Jace. “It’s not like mom locked her in a containment cell, she is in a comfy bedroom, no big deal.”

Alec exchanged an exasperated look with his mother, then gestured to Simon with his head.

“His blood pressure is a little low,” she said. “But he’ll be fine.”

“Raphael recommended a blood replenishing potion,” Alec said, trying to contain a yawn.

“If Magnus has some ready at your apartment it would help him recover quicker,” Maryse nodded thoughtfully, still focused on Simon. “This Mundane shouldn’t even know about the Shadow World, Alec,” she said sternly, raising her head to stare at him. “This is what happens when they get too close.”

“I know,” Alec sighed tiredly, exchanging a look with Jace. “Too late now to do anything about it, though.”

Maryse nodded stiffly, then shooed them away with a hand gesture. “Go to sleep the three of you, you need to rest, who knows what else will come up later.”

Alec yawned and nodded, following Jace and Izzy back to the residential wing. Jace implied that he wanted to find the girl to tell her that Simon was alright, but Alec honestly couldn’t care less. He went straight to his old bedroom and threw himself on the bed, falling asleep almost instantly.

* * *

Alec woke up a little disoriented, his hand instinctively searched for Magnus on the other side of the bed, and he groaned when instead of his husband, he only found the harsh sheets of the Institute. At least this time around he managed to sleep well enough. Exhaustion would do that.

He took a quick shower, without Magnus’ sandalwood shampoo and bodywash, and went to the kitchen to take a cup of coffee, that tasted a little burnt. If possible, waking up without his husband for the second day in a roll got him even crankier than he was the day before. And the prospect of having to deal with Clary, Simon, the Circle, and Valentine did nothing to improve his mood.

Jace, Izzy and Clary weren’t awake yet, which was good, if anyone asked Alec. It guaranteed he would have some peace and quiet for a little while. He went by the infirmary to check on Simon and found him snoring loudly, tangled on the sheets. He didn’t look like he was too debilitated by the lack of blood, but Alec decided to stop by the loft and pick up a blood replenishing potion for him anyway, just to be sure.

Their home was just as he had left it two days ago, even his shirt thrown on the bed hadn’t been moved. Alec sighed and picked it up to put it in the laundry basket, before making the bed and opening the windows. Chairman was not there, and Alec didn’t expect him to be, he would be willing to bet that Magnus had gone by the apartment to pick him up before setting up the safe house for the other Warlocks.

Alec found a blood replenishing potion on Magnus’ workroom cabinet easily enough. By now, he knew enough about magic to recognize some of the most useful potions Magnus always kept in stock.

He put on a fresh shirt, and left the loft. He would rather stay home and wait for Magnus on their couch, reading a book and relaxing a little, but he still had too much to do at the Institute, and he didn’t think that would change anytime soon.

Unlucky for Alec, Clary was at the infirmary, sitting on Simon’t bed, when he got back to the Institute. She looked at him for a second and set her jaw, before focusing back on Simon.

Alec ignored her and picked up the vial of blood replenishing potion from his pocket. “Here,” he said, giving it to Simon. “Drink this, it will make you feel better faster.”

“Thank you,” Simon said, downing the potion without question. “And thank you for going there and saving me,” he added, looking up at Alec with a tight smile.

“I didn’t do anything,” Alec shrugged it off. “Raphael is the one you should thank.”

“I think I did,” Simon frowned thoughtfully. “I don’t remember much of it.”

“It’s better this way,” Alec said honestly. “It’s also better for you to go home and forget everything about the Shadow World, once you feel better,” he added after a moment. “For your own safety.”

Simon nodded reluctantly and Alec was about to leave, when he heard Clary huffing behind his back.

He hesitated for a moment; He knew he should let it go and leave, it wasn’t exactly mature to go around bickering with her. But he was in a bad mood, and she just kept challenging his very short patience, over and over again.

“I see,” Alec snorted, turning back to look at her. “Too hard for you to say thank you.”

“What’s your problem with me?” She asked through her teeth, jumping out of the bed immediately. “I didn’t do anything to you, so tell me, what’s your problem?”

“My problem?” He sneered, shaking his head slowly. “Maybe the fact that you couldn’t care less for the people you put in danger,” he gestured to Simon, who was watching them with widened eyes. “Or the fact that you’ve been here for two days and think you know better than anyone else?”

“Yeah, like that’s what’s really bothering you,” Clary said scornfully, crossing her arms.

“Clary,” Simon said in a warning tone, extending his hand to try to stop her, but she pushed him away.

“So this has nothing to do with you being all represed and in love with Jace?” She asked with a vicious smirk, clearly trying to rile him up.

Maybe two years ago, before Magnus, that comment would make him panic and run away, maybe it would make him yell at her, or try to deflect, or react in any other way. Now, though, now it only made him laugh. Hard.

Clary stared at him dumbfounded while he shaked in laughter. It was just too ridiculous for him not to.

“First of all,” he said after a few seconds. “I’m not represed, the whole world knows I’m gay. Second, I’m not in love with Jace, we are _ parabatai_, not that you care about that either. And third,” he paused, raising an eyebrow to her. “Are you honestly telling me that you believe it is okay to go around throwing people’s sexualities at their faces like that, especially when you think they are not out? I mean, I thought Mundanes were more evolved than that.”

“And he has a boyfriend that he seems to love a lot,” Simon murmured behind Clary’s back, making her turn around and gawp at him. “What? We spent some time together while you were being probed, we talked.” Simon shrugged.

Clary grunted and stomped away, making Alec roll his eyes and Simon look up at him apologetically.

“She didn’t mean it like that,” he grimaced. “She’s just upset because of her mother and everything else.”

“She meant it, she wanted to humiliate me, now she is angry because I’m not,” Alec said dismissively, then he narrowed his eyes to Simon. “I seem to love him a lot?”

“You smiled when Izzy said you are less grumpy when he is around,” Simon said nonchalantly. “You are not the smiling without reason type.”

Alec stared at Simon for a couple of seconds, then nodded. He was probably right, Alec didn’t think he had smiled much the past two days, but thinking about Magnus always managed to do it for him.

“You should really listen to me and get away from all this before something worse happens,” he warned gravely.

“Something worse than being kidnapped by Vampires and having their leader feed on me?” Simon asked, raising his eyebrows amusedly.

“Yeah, like being actually tortured, or, you know, dying,” Alec shrugged.

“Ah, you don’t want me to die!” Simon exclaimed, smiling brightly.

“It would be way too much paperwork,” Alec smirked, before leaving Simon alone.

Alec spent most of the day in his office, working through all the piled up paperwork from the past couple of days. He was lucky he had his mother to help him with it, or he would be swamped by now. Maryse brought him lunch a while after he started, informing him that Simon had followed his advice and gone home, at least one less thing for him to worry about.

His phone rang twice, and twice he smiled brightly after seeing Magnus’ name on the screen, just to let his smile fall when Magnus told him about other Warlocks that had disappeared around the world. The Spiral Council was working non-stop to set up as many safe-houses as they could with their strongest wards, but the bleakness of knowing that they wouldn’t be able to save everyone was clear on Magnus’ voice.

Izzy showed up at the office by the end of the afternoon.

“Jace is training Clary, she is not all bad,” she shrugged, coming close to Alec to stand beside his chair.

Alec snorted and rolled his eyes, but didn’t say anything. He wouldn’t tell Izzy about the altercation he had with Clary earlier, because while he had just shrugged it off, he was pretty sure his sister would end up shoving her high heels on Clary’s eye socket if she knew about it.

“You miss Magnus,” Izzy murmured after a while, moving to hug him from behind.

He sure did. Alec couldn’t stop thinking about how everything that happened in the last couple of days would have gone better if Magnus was with him. To begin with, _Alec_ was better when Magnus was around, he was calmer and more willing to reason with people, instead of just snapping at them. And then there was all the things Magnus could do that would have helped them. Alec was not sure when he had become dependant on magic to live his life, but he sure was now.

“Yeah,” he admitted tiredly.

“It’s been two days,” Izzy snorted, tightening the hug.

“It feels like more,” Alec sighed, closing his eyes and leaning back to rest his head on Izzy’s shoulder.

They stayed there for a few moments as Alec tried to relax a little. The past two days had been a constant headache, just one more thing that was terrible without his husband, Magnus always got rid of his headaches the moment he got home from work.

“You’ll have to be a bit more patient with Clary, she is not a bad person, I don’t think,” Izzy murmured, making Alec snort. “Really, Alec, I think she is just clueless.”

“That can be more dangerous than if she were a bad person.”

“We can train her and teach her about our world, just try to be a little more patient.”

“I would, if she wasn’t so unwilling to listen,” Alec huffed, opening his eyes and moving away from Izzy’s embrace. “Face it, Izzy, she wants us to find her mother and that’s it, she couldn’t care less for the rest of it.”

“Come on, Alec,” she insisted, nudging his shoulder. “Just give Jace a chance to teach her about our world, then, if she doesn’t learn anything, you can always send her to Imogen.”

That made Alec smirk. Imogen didn’t do warm, patient, or kind. Not even if Jace was the one asking her to. “Okay,” he chuckled, getting up and going to the command center with Izzy.

They sat together at the long wooden table in the middle of the command center, and Alec watched as his people trained, wrote reports, and went out on patrol, everything the way it was supposed to be. In a little more than an hour he would be back home with his husband, and he would finally be able to let go of the tension he had been building up for the past couple of days. He just knew that everything would be better once he was back home with Magnus.

“Where were you all day, grumpy?” Jace asked throwing himself on the chair across from Alec.

“Working?” He replied, raising an eyebrow to Jace sardonically. “Maybe you should do the same, just for a change?”

Jace snorted, but picked a piece of paper from his jacket’s pocket and started to fill it out.

“How late is this one?” Alec asked, gesturing to the paper with his head.

“From the day we found Clary,” Jace said, biting the end of his pen. “Am I supposed to put that under outside interference or unknown circumstances?”

“Outside interference if you are filling in the report on the Demons we followed to Pandemonium, unknown circumstances if it’s the report on you tracking her back home,” Izzy replied, filling in her own late reports.

“Hum-hm,” Jace hummed, focusing on the paperwork.

Alec took that as an opportunity to go through the logs from the other Institutes in their region in his tablet, looking for any references on Valentine or the Circle.

“Where is she anyway?” Izzy asked, after a couple of minutes of blissful silence.

“Shower,” Jace answered distractedly. “Spent most of the day training her on basic defense.”

“Any progress?” Alec questioned, keeping his eyes on his tablet.

“Max can probably beat her down with a hand behind his back, but it’s better than before?” Jace shrugged doubtifully. “She is all mushy, no muscles, no upper body strength, it will take a while.”

“Mundane life will do that to you,” Izzy snickered, rolling her hair with her pen.

“Talking about me?” Clary’s voice came from behind them, and Alec had to use all his self-control not to grunt. “Nevermind,” she said, taking the chair next to Jace. She gave Alec a glance, then nudged Jace. “I think I remember something.”

“What?” Jace asked startled, dropping his pen and turning to her.

“I don’t know if it’s a memory,” she said, frowning. “I think it’s a name, but it doesn’t make any sense.”

“Tell us,” Izzy prompted, putting down her own pen and leaning forward to stare at Clary too.

“It’s my mother saying she had to call Magnus Bane and—” Clary said, and the whole world froze around them.

Or maybe it was just Alec that froze in place. He wasn't entirely sure.

That couldn’t be right, from all the things the girl could've remembered, she had to remember his husband’s name? How was Magnus involved in this, anyway? Alec knew it couldn’t have been after their wedding, he would’ve told Alec if he was around Shadowhunters outside the Clave, wouldn’t he? 

_ Of course he would, _ Alec thought forcefully, Magnus didn’t keep this kind of things from him, no, it had to be from before the wedding and before the Alliance.

Alec’s thoughts were running a hundred miles per minute and he was starting to get a whole new headache. He had completely blanked from the conversation going on around him, but a part of his mind knew he had to focus back on it, if nothing else to get more information on how Magnus’ name had showed up in Clary’s mind.

When he managed to pull away from his own confusion, he noticed that there wasn’t much of a conversation going on anymore. Izzy and Jace were both looking at him with wide eyes, probably experiencing the same confused thoughts he was, and Clary was turning her head from Jace, to Izzy, to Alec and back, completely lost.

“What?” She asked, shaking Jace’s arm to pull him away from his trance. “What is it? You know this Magnus person?”

“Alec,” Jace called quietly, probably feeling Alec’s turmoil through their bond.

“No,” Alec said, shaking his head with determination. “No, we are not pulling Magnus into this, no way—”

“Who is Magnus?” Clary interrupted frantically, but no one answered.

“Alec this is important,” Izzy said in a calming tone, raising her hands in a placating gesture. “I know you don’t want Magnus to get hurt but—”

“They are hunting Warlocks, Izzy!” Alec snapped, raising his hand to his face and rubbing it forcefully, then locking eyes with Jace. “I can’t do this.”

“Who is Magnus?” Clary screamed, catching the attention of all the Shadowhunters around them.

“Alec’s husband,” Jace explained impatiently, without taking his eyes from Alec.

“His what now?” Clary gasped in shock. “You are married?”

Again, no one answered her. “Maybe just call him and ask about Clary?” Izzy suggested quietly, reaching for Alec’s hand across the table.

“Yeah,” Jace nodded, worrying his lower lip. “The two of you will decide how we’ll do this and—”

“He stole my memories!” Clary interrupted angrily, getting up from her chair and slapping the table, most of the Shadowhunters in the command center were watching them now. “I don’t care if he is your husband or whatever, he had no right to take my memories, I want them back!”

Before Alec even had the chance to react, Izzy had released his hand and grabbed Clary’s arm forcefully, digging her nails in Clary’s skin.

“I’ve been very patient with you so far, but you are not going to speak to my brother like that,” she muttered through her teeth, glancing around the command center. “You want us to help you? Maybe stop screaming at people and throwing fits and try to listen from time to time.”

Clary whined in protest and reached for Jace, but he just bit his lip in apprehension, keeping his full attention on Alec’s conflicting feelings and trying to send him soothing ones.

“Let go of me,” Clary squirmed away from Izzy, scowling when she noticed Jace wouldn’t help her.

“Nevermind that, maybe you are just too Mundane to learn how to be one of us,” Izzy snorted dismissively, releasing Clary’s arm. “Alec?” She murmured, turning to him with regretful eyes. “I really think we need to call Magnus now.”

Alec sighed and rubbed his temples for a second, then nodded. He picked up his phone and stared at it before dialing;_ how was he even supposed to ask Magnus about that? _

Magnus picked up the phone in the second ring. “Hi, Sayang, everything okay?”

“Yeah— No— I don’t know, Magnus,” Alec sighed, turning his back to Jace, Izzy and Clary, trying to get a semblance of privacy.

“What’s it, Alexander?” Magnus asked with concern. “Something happened?”

“No— Yes, I mean,” Alec said hesitantly. “The day you found those Circle members at the club, Jace and Izzy found a girl,” he explained as well as he could. “Her name is Clarissa, she is Valentine’s daughter.”

There was a long pause, then Magnus said seriously: “You better meet me back home, Alexander, I’ll explain everything.”

“Should I take them with me?” Alec asked reluctantly. He didn’t like the idea at all, Clary was annoying and disrespectful, and he surely didn’t want her at his home, but he didn’t think he had much choice in the matter when Magnus was already involved.

“Yeah, it’s better to talk to her here than at the Institute,” Magnus said thoughtfully.

“Okay,” Alec sighed and turned off the phone. He paused for a moment to put his thoughts back in order, then gestured for Jace, Izzy and Clary to follow him. “Let’s go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> About Clary's comment on "Alec being in love with Jace" and the way she used it to try to win an argument both here and in the show (in the book as well if I'm remembering correctly): The thing is, that's a really shitty thing to do, and it has always annoyed me that she was never called out on it, so this is me making Alec call her out on it. I hope you all liked the chapter.


	7. Chapter 7

Alec opened the door to his home and was greeted by Chairman, meowning and headbutting his leg. He smiled down at the cat, before putting away his weapons, taking off his jacket and his shoes, and crouching for a second to scratch his chin. Jace and Izzy kicked off their own shoes unceremoniously, and followed Alec into the apartment, only Clary hesitated at the door.

Magnus was waiting on the couch with a martini, and for a moment, Alec forgot about everything else and just looked at his gorgeous husband, he had missed Magnus so much. He crossed the room before Magnus even had the chance to get up, and pulled him to his feet into a kiss.

“Hi,” he murmured, resting his forehead against Magnus’.

“Hi,” Magnus chuckled, running his hands up and down Alec’s arms.

Their reunion was cut short by Jace clearing his throat behind Alec, making him remember exactly why he had brought them all home with him.

“Yeah, that,” Alec sighed, gesturing to Jace, Izzy and Clary over his shoulder.

Magnus nodded and looked at them. “Clarissa Fairchild, you’ve grown up a lot since I last saw you.”

“So you are the one who stole my memories,” Clary accused petulantly. “You have to give them back!” She demanded.

“Have to?” Alec repeated through gritted teeth, turning in a swift motion to glare Clary down. “Magnus doesn’t _ have to _ anything he doesn’t _ want to_.”

“Alexandre—” Magnus said pacifyingly.

“No,” Alec interrupted him, still glaring at Clary. “You may screech and scream at me, and I let it go because you have no idea what you are doing, but I won’t allow _ anyone _ to talk to my husband like that. You are not entitled to his help, or ours for that matter.”

“He had no right to take my memories!” Clary screeched, stomping her foot forcefully, making Chairman hiss and run away from the living room.

The impatience he always felt around the girl grew tenfold hearing her talk to his husband like that, it didn’t matter whatever happened in the past and how Magnus knew her, no one was going to be rude to Magnus inside their own home.

“I won’t warn you twice,” Alec said in a dangerously calm tone. “Either you talk to Magnus respectfully, or you leave our home straight to Alicante, and by the Angel, I won’t guarantee that you’ll get there in one piece.”

“It’s okay, Alexander,” Magnus said in his most calming tone, placing a hand on Alec’s arm. With Magnus’ reassuring hand and the soothing feelings Jace was sending through the bond, Alec managed to control his anger. “I took your memories at your mother’s request,” Magnus said to Clary impassively. “She knew the risks.”

“Magnus?” Alec said, looking at his husband with confusion, he needed an explanation for all of this.

“All of this was years and years before I even met you,” Magnus murmured, caressing Alec’s face delicately for a moment, before saying louder, pulling his hand away into an expansive gesture; “Before the Alliance took form, back when every rule the Shadow World ever had was up in the air and aimless.”

He walked around the living room, seeming lost in thought, before stopping in front of Clary.

“The first time I saw you, you must have been two years old,” he said, tilting his head and watching Clary for a second, before walking away, back to Alec’s side. “I was looking out of the window and saw your mother hurrying up the street, carrying something wrapped in a blanket. I was surprised when she stopped at my door. She looked so ordinary, so young.” Magnus sighed. “She unwrapped the blanket when she came in my door. You were inside it. She set you down on the floor and you started ranging around, picking things up, pulling my cat’s tail— you screamed like a banshee when the cat scratched you, so I asked your mother if you were part banshee. She didn’t laugh.”

Clary kept her eyes on Magnus, drinking in his every word. Beside her, Izzy and Jace exchanged a look and directed themselves to Magnus’ drink cart, if that was just the beginning of the story, there was no doubt it was going to be a long one.

“She told me she was a Shadowhunter, not that I needed her to, I could see the runes on her skin very clearly, even though she had a glamour on,” Magnus said, taking a hand to his chin and tapping his cheek with a finger. “She asked for my help.”

“To— To erase my memories?” Clary asked hesitantly, looking at Magnus like a lost child.

“No, not then,” Magnus shook his head slowly. “Back then she wanted me to blind your inner-eye, so you’d never be able to see the Shadow World.”

Clary gasped, and they heard the clinking of glass shattering on the floor. Magnus didn’t even blink before snapping his finger and cleaning the glass Jace had just dropped.

“I managed to dissuade her of that quickly enough,” Magnus continued seriously, as if nothing had happened. “Messing with people’s sight is not something that can be done without permanent damage, if she had gone to a less reputable Warlock you could’ve ended up insane, but she came to me,” Magnus closed his eyes for a second and shook his head. “I didn’t want to help her, you see? Her husband had killed so many of my friends, and she had helped him, at that. She helped her husband kill my people.”

Clary sniffled quietly, and Alec almost pitied her upon seeing the tears in her eyes. He knew how that felt like, he remembered how it had felt like to learn what his parents had done in their Circle days.

“But Tessa,” Magnus paused, gesturing to Jace, who raised his head upon hearing the name of his ancestor. “She was here with me back then, and she convinced me that helping your mother was for the best.” He exhaled sharply before continuing. “Tessa asked a Silent Brother who is our friend to perform the ceremony every Shadowhunter go through in the early infancy, to ward you from being possessed by Demons, then we helped your mother hide. Whenever you came too close to the Shadow World, or saw anything that you were not supposed to, your mother brought you to me, and I erased it from your mind.”

Everything was still for a couple of seconds while they all made sense of what they had just heard. Then Magnus sighed and snapped his fingers, making his glass of martini fill up on his hand.

“So, no, Clarissa, I didn’t steal your memories,” he concluded, sitting on the couch and crossing his legs.

“But why?” Clary asked tearfully, sitting on the armchair across from Magnus. “Why didn’t she want me to know about all this?”

“Your father, of course, why else?” Magnus sighed, stirring his martini with his pinky. “She didn’t want you to grow up under the stank of his name and all he did, she didn’t want you to grow up with swords instead of dolls,” he added, exchanging a meaningful look with Alec. “And to fight in a war that will never end. She wanted you to live a safe and happy Mundane life.”

“Didn’t work out all that well, did it?” Clary chuckled darkly, shaking her head. “Now Valentine took her, and I have no idea what to do, and how to help her, and—”

“And you should let it for the people who actually know what they are doing,” Magnus said indicating Alec, Jace and Izzy with his head. “I knew your mother, Clary, in a way you never did, and probably never will. Her whole existence, the running, the hiding, it was all to keep you safe. Don’t waste her sacrifice by risking your life, she wouldn’t want that.”

“She wouldn’t want me to save her?”

“Not if it meant putting yourself in danger,” Magnus said honestly.

“I won’t give up on finding my mother,” Clary said firmly, staring into Magnus eyes. “I need my memories back for that.”

Magnus swore in a demonic language, before standing up. “Look, I don’t have your memories here with me.”

“Where are they?” Jace asked, frowning.

“I fed them to a memory Demon, for safekeeping,” Magnus shrugged, playing with his ear cuff.

“What?” Clary exclaimed alarmed, jumping out of the armchair. “Why would you do that?”

“To protect you, of course,” Magnus said with an elaborate hand gesture. “And the Cup,” he added in a lower voice after a second, sipping on his martini.

“You knew Jocelyn had the Cup?” Alec asked seriously, in a tone he hardly ever used with Magnus, making both Izzy and Jace take a step ahead upon hearing it. If to back Alec up, or to keep him from snapping at Magnus, he wouldn’t know.

“It was before the Alliance,” Magnus explained calmly, getting up from the couch and reaching for Alec’s hand in a reassuring gesture, but Alec pulled his hand away. “I just knew she had it. How she got it, or where it is, I never found out. I’ve never even seen it, not since the Uprising, that is.”

“It has been two years, Magnus,” Alec replied with frustration. “You could’ve told me about it, we could’ve found it years ago, and now we wouldn’t be facing the very real possibility of Valentine finding the Cup before we do. And you know what happens if he finds it; we die,” he exhaled sharply. “I mean, what’s the alternative here? Join him? And kill the people I love?”

“Alec—” Jace said softly, taking another step ahead with his hand extended.

“No,” Alec grunted, moving away from Jace and pressing his temples with his fingers, all the fear he had been pushing back since finding out the Circle was back and hunting Warlocks, coming back with full force.

“We won’t let Valentine hurt Magnus, Alec,” Jace murmured, grabbing Alec’s hand forcefully. “We will stop him, he won’t win.”

“You can’t know that, not for sure,” Alec replied gravily.

“Yes, we can,” Izzy said firmly, approaching him too. “We are Lightwoods, there is nothing we can’t do when we work together.”

Alec nodded, exhaling slowly, then turned to Magnus. “You kept this from me, you know how important it is and you still kept it from me.”

“I couldn’t say anything,” Magnus said softly, reaching for his hand again. “You know I would tell you if I could, Alexander. I gave Jocelyn my word that I wouldn’t inform the Clave of where she was, or anything else about her,” he said, indicating Clary with his head. “I told you once, back when we were just getting to know each other, I have a confidentiality clause in my contracts.”

Alec sighed. Of course it had to be something like that. Magnus trusted him, even if he still didn’t quite trust the Clave, he wouldn’t keep something this serious from Alec without reason.

“And telling us all of this now doesn’t breach your clause?” Jace questioned, narrowing his eyes.

“Loophole,” Magnus said with a dismissive hand wave. “The objective of the contract was keeping Clary away from the Shadow World, she obviously isn’t away from the Shadow World anymore, so the contract is null and void.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Clary interrupted agitated. “I need my memories back, how could you give them to a Demon?”

“Should I’ve just kept them with me and waited patiently until Valentine showed up to torture them out of me, like he tortured Dot?” Magnus asked, and for the first time since they got there, Alec saw a flare of irritation coming from him.

“Tortured?” Clary repeated shocked, widening her eyes. “Wait, is Dot okay?”

“I don’t know,” Mangus replied exasperated. “I can’t feel her magic anymore. Under normal circumstances I’d think she was cloaking, but with Valentine out there actively hunting Warlocks— I don’t know.”

“We need to stop him!” Clary said distressed. “We have to find him and save my mother and stop him, please, there must be a way to get my memories back.”

“There is a way,” Magnus sighed, taking a sip of his martini. “But you have to understand, there is no guarantee your memories will hold the secret to the Cup’s location, I don’t think Jocelyn would be careless enough to leave it anywhere you could find it.”

“But maybe there is a clue,” she insisted. “Anything would help!”

“Alright, I can summon the Demon, but it won’t be easy, it will demand retribution to give your memories back, and we’ll all be forced to pay,” Magnus stated seriously.

“All of us?” Izzy asked, biting her lips with concern.

“Everyone who takes place on the summoning will have to contribute with it,” Magnus said, nodding to Izzy. 

“Retribution?” Clary questioned confused. “What kind of retribution?”

“It’s a memory Demon, it feeds on memories,” Magnus said matter-of-factly as he shook his hand and a piece of parchment appeared on it, then he gestured to his workroom, and the door opened. “You’ll have to draw the pentagram on the floor,” he said giving Clary the parchment.

“With what?” She asked, looking around confused.

Magnus shook his hand again and a case appeared on it. He handed it to Clary without saying much else and shooed her to the workroom.

Alec grunted. “None of this would be happening if Jocelyn had just done the sensible thing and returned the Cup to the Clave, she would probably be considered a hero for returning it, then she wouldn’t have been kidnapped to begin with, and Clary wouldn’t be this—” he hesitated, gesturing with his hands trying to find the right word.

“Untrained?” Jace supplied with a grimace.

“Clueless?” Izzy proposed, tilting her head.

“Yeah, that,” Alec answered, agreeing with both of them. “You should probably go and prepare her for it, she needs the Runes.”

Jace looked at Alec attentively for a second, then nodded and went inside the workroom with Izzy. Alec sighed and threw himself on the couch, covering his face with an arm.

“Are you upset with me?” Magnus asked softly, sitting close to him.

“No,” Alec murmured honestly. “I just—” he exhaled slowly. “I can’t, Magnus, everything is a mess, and I have to stay calm and professional, but I can’t— I need you to be safe, I can’t deal with this if you are not safe, and now—”

“It’s okay, my love,” Magnus murmured, resting his head on Alec’s shoulder and caressing his arm lightly. “I’d rather be in the middle of everything by your side than hide away without you.”

“Not very wise of you,” Alec chuckled somberly, passing his arm behind Magnus’ back.

They heard a high pitched scream coming from the workroom, but ignored, it was just Clary getting the appropriate Runes.

“I can’t have anything happening to you, Magnus,” Alec murmured after a while, pulling Magnus closer. “I never wanted you to get involved in any of this,” he sighed burying his face in Magnus’ hair.

“Oh, love, I’ve been involved in it since before you were born, there was nothing you could do to keep it away.”

The door to the workroom opened, and Alec heard Jace clearing his throat. “We are ready,” he informed, going back inside immediately.

As soon as Alec opened his eyes, he noticed that his headache was gone, and looked at Magnus with a raised eyebrow. “You shouldn’t waste magic in me when we are about to summon a Greater Demon to our home.”

“There is no such thing as waste of magic when it comes to making you feel better, Alexander,” Magnus declared earnestly and stood up, before offering a hand to help Alec off the couch.

The pentagram in the middle of the workroom floor was highly detailed and colorful, and even Alec was impressed by it.

“Jocelyn was right,” Magnus commented pulling his sleeves up and circulating the pentagram. “Your artistry is beyond compare, are you sure you don’t want to forget about the Shadow World all over again and go to Art School?”

“No,” Clary said firmly. “I prefer to know who I am.”

Magnus shrugged and stood at the tip of the pentagram. “Being is a fluid thing, biscuit, don’t focus too much on what you think you are supposed to be.”

“Biscuit?” Alec murmured with a grimace, taking Magnus’ side on the next tip of the pentagram.

He shrugged. “Everyone, take your rightful place on the pentagram.”

Jace placed himself beside Alec, and moved Clary to the next tip, as Izzy took Magnus’ other side.

“We must initiate a bond, once the bond is sealed it cannot be broken until the Demon retreats. No matter what happens, we must not let go of each other’s hands.”

Alec frowned and looked at Magnus questioningly. He had seen summonings before, usually with Magnus guiding other Warlocks through it, but he had never seen them holding hands during it.

“It depends on the strength of the Demon and the strength of the bond between the people summoning it,” Magnus explained matter-of-factly. “Clary doesn’t have a strong bond with any of us, and she needs to be involved because these are her memories,” he shrugged. “Holding hands is safer.”

And so they did it. Alec caught Magnus’ hand and felt the wave of magic go through him. Magnus’ magic was familiar and comfortable, and when Alec gave his hand to Jace the magic flew through seamlessly. Clary was the only one who jumped in surprise once Jace caught her hand, probably feeling a little shockwave from Magnus’ magic. She caught Izzy’s hand and closed the circle.

Magnus murmured the summoning chante and magic started to swirl inside the circle, slowly turning into a swirling mass of darkness in the center of the pentagram. It felt like they were surrounding a whirlwind. Alec felt the magic vibrating around them as the Demon tested their connections and tried to force them apart.

“Don’t let go,” Jace shouted beside him, when they all heard Clary whimpering.

“I’m trying!” Clary screamed back.

“It is time, the Demon demands payment,” Magnus yelled over the noise.

“What does it want?” Alec questioned, holding Jace firmly as Jace focused on keeping Clary’s hand on his.

“We must each relinquish a beloved memory of the one we love the most,” Magnus declared.

Just as he said it, Clary yelped as the Demon pulled her memory; the image of a red-headed woman, Alec assumed to be Jocelyn, smiled in the middle of the circle, before fading away.

No more than a second later, Izzy sighed as the Demon took a memory from her. For less than a second a memory of Alec laughing played in the middle of the vortex; a warm feeling went down Alec’s chest as he saw it, he didn’t know from when the memory was, but it looked recent.

Next to him, Jace’s chest raised and fell as a memory of him sword-playing with Alec and Izzy when they were kids played before them. They were young, it had to be from the first few years of Jace living with them, and it warmed Alec’s heart to know that it was as much of a beloved memory for Jace as it was for him.

Then Magnus exhaled by his side, and Alec’s face showed up in the middle of the vortex again; he was unshaved and there was snow on his beard, it had to be from the time they went skiing in Bariloche not long ago.

As Alec watched the image fading away with a fond smile, the Demon pulled on him, and he felt a hole opening in his mind, a memory of Magnus and him having breakfast in a cafe in Paris played in the middle of the vortex, before disappearing, lost forever.

The moment Alec’s memory faded away, a jumble of images and a cacophony of sounds took its place, it swirled fast in the middle of them, and Alec couldn’t identify anything other than a flash of red hair here and there. As it started, it ended, and all the memories came down, crashing into Clary, who screamed in pain. Jace and Izzy had to hold on to Clary and keep her upright while Magnus did quick work of banishing the Demon from there.

As soon as the Demon was gone, and they let go of each other’s hands, Clary whimpered, before her eyes rolled back and she passed out on the floor.

“Clary!” Jace called out alarmed, dropping to his knees beside her and checking for a pulse.

“She is alright,” Magnus said with a dismissive hand wave, rolling down his sleeves. “She just got an overwhelming amount of information dumped inside her head. It will take about twenty four hours for her brain to put everything back in the right place.”

Alec couldn’t stop himself from feeling relieved. Twenty four hours without Clary pestering him and with Magnus back home sounded like a dream for him.

As Jace picked Clary from the floor and took her to the living room couch, Alec moved to Magnus’ side and took his hand. He was colder than usual, which led Alec to believe he had been using more magic than he should in the past few days.

“Always fun when we get to see that we were completely replaced by the hubby,” Jace said, appearing back in the workroom, pointing to himself and Izzy with a thumb.

Alec rolled his eyes to him, but didn’t respond, still focused on Magnus.

“Don’t worry too much, Jace,” Magnus smirked. “Demons don't have a good understanding of love, they don’t get the intricacies and the difference in each type of love.”

“No, no,” Alec chuckled. “The Demon was right, I do love Magnus the most.”

“No news for me,” Izzy snorted as they went back to the living room.

“Now would be a great time for you to go back to the Institute,” Alec said, raising an eyebrow to Izzy and Jace, as Magnus directed himself to his drink cart and poured a drink.

“Rude! Where has your hospitality gone, big brother?” Izzy laughed, rolling her eyes.

“Same place as your good manners, I never had it,” Alec replied with a smirk. “Now go back to the Institute and tell mom to keep an eye on her,” he said, pointing to Clary. “Call me if you need anything.”

“Can we at least have a portal?” Jace questioned, eyeing Clary with a frown. “She’s heavier than she looks.”

“You'll manage,” Alec said impassively, gesturing to the front door with his head.

“Come on, Jace, Alec spent two nights away from the hubby, they have a lot of catching up to do,” Izzy said, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

“Can any of you remind me the reason I keep the two of you around?” Alec grunted, moving to open the door as Jace picked Clary up.

“Entertainment value?” Izzy grinned, following Jace outside, before Alec closed the door to her face.


	8. Chapter 8

“I’ll text mom and tell her to wire your payment,” Alec said as soon as he closed the door.

“There is no need, Sayang,” Magnus murmured from behind him tiredly.

“Of course there is,” Alec said, rolling his eyes, before taking his phone from his back pocket and sending a quick text to Maryse.

Magnus sighed and sat on the couch. Now that they were alone, he looked more tired, his skin was ashy and his eyes unglamoured. Alec was almost sure he had been keeping an additional glamour up since they ended the summoning.

“Are you alright?” Alec questioned, sitting beside Magnus, taking his too cold hand and kissing it lightly, before placing it on his face.

“A little tired,” Magnus yawned, running his fingers through Alec’s cheek. “I was reinforcing our wards when you called earlier.”

“You should’ve told me, we could’ve done this tomorrow.” Alec scolded his husband. “You shouldn’t have used so much magic.”

“I’m not even close to my limit, love,” Magnus said with an unconcerned hand wave.

Alec sighed and shook his head, before leaving the couch. After two years of marriage, he knew Magnus well enough to know how to take care of him when he got depleted, even when Magnus wouldn’t admit to it. He made them a quick dinner, then drew them a bath.

Magnus was not as depleted as Alec had seen in the past, and that was probably the reason why he didn’t complain when Alec picked him up from the dining table and carried him to the bathtub.

They soaked in Magnus’ mixture of relaxing potions and bath bombs, while Alec rubbed his back and they talked about the past couple of days. If it was anyone else, Alec would only get more worried about everything, but sharing his concerns with Magnus always made him feel lighter.

Much later, when they finally got ready to sleep, Magnus snuggled as close to Alec as he could, making Alec feel comfortable, after two nights feeling like the bed was far too cold and empty for him to sleep well.

“I've missed your face,” Magnus mumbled sleepily, raising his head from Alec’s chest to look into his eyes.

“It's only been two days,” Alec chuckled, running his hand through Magnus’ back.

“It felt like more,” Magnus sighed. “I was so bored.”

“I wish I had time to be bored,” Alec snorted softly, before kissing the top of Magnus’ head and pulling him back to his chest.

  
  


* * *

Alec was warm and comfortable the next morning, when an annoying noise breached into his dreams and pulled him back into reality. He opened his eyes with some difficult and found Magnus still sound asleep tucked between his arms, the annoying noise still ringing beside his head. He rubbed his eyes and looked to the other side to find his phone ringing with his mother’s name on the screen, he almost ignored the call and got back to sleep, before remembering the chaos of the past couple of days and picking up the phone.

“Hi, mom,” Alec yawned on the phone. “Is everything okay?”

“Sorry to wake you up, Alec,” Maryse said, sounding sincere. “But you have a conference call with Consul Penhallow and the other Heads of Institute in an hour, and Inquisitor Herondale is waiting for an update on the girl.”

He cussed under his breath, carefully pulling his arm from under Magnus, and checking the time on the clock on his bedside table. He was late. Really late. “Sorry, mom, I’ll be there right away,” he said hurriedly, before putting the phone down.

“Do you really have to go?” Magnus mumbled from behind him after a moment.

“Unfortunately,” Alec said, sitting on the edge of the bed and petting Magnus’ hair. “I wish I could stay in bed with you all day—”

“But there’s too much happening,” Magnus interrupted. “I know, my love, I have a lot to do today, too.”

“You shouldn’t strain yourself too much, I don’t want you to get depleted.”

“I have to help my people, you know that,” Magnus murmured, taking the hand Alec still had on his hair and kissing it lightly. 

Alec sighed, but nodded. He understood Magnus’ need to protect his people, it was one of the things that made him love his husband so much. “Try not to overdo it, and text me if anything happens. I’ll drop whatever I’m doing if you need me.”

“I can take care of myself.”

“I know that,” Alec murmured. “The problem is that you want to take care of everyone else too, and sometimes you forget your limits.”

“Don’t worry about me,” Magnus said, squeezing Alec’s hand.

He could try not to worry, but he knew it was impossible. If not for the fact that Magnus was using too much magic lately to keep everyone safer, he would still have to worry that the Circle was after Warlocks, and that all the other Downworlders were also in danger, and all that without counting Valentine’s search for the Mortal Cup.

Alec skipped breakfast and hurried through his morning routine, before refusing Magnus’ offer for a portal and running out with the aid of his Speed Rune.

The Institute was in it’s usual morning calmness when Alec arrived with a couple of minutes to spare, Maryse showed up by his side as soon as he set foot inside and handed him a cup of coffee while briefing him on last night’s reports.

When Alec settled down in his office to wait for the conference call, he was still unsure of how he would officially address Magnus’ involvement with Jocelyn and the girl later, in his private call with Imogen and Jia. Under normal circumstances he would consider asking Izzy and Jace to keep the extent of Magnus’ involvement out of their reports, and he knew they would, but he couldn’t trust Clary with it, he was certain she would try to use it against him whenever she disagreed with him again, and from the way things had been lately, that was bound to happen soon.

He knew that Magnus hadn’t done anything wrong. He helped Jocelyn during that weird time between the Accords and the Alliance, when the Shadow World had no laws to abide by, and Alec was sure Magnus was being honest when he said he hadn’t been around either of them after the Alliance. Still, there was no way of knowing how the Clave would react to the fact that Magnus had information on the Mortal Cup for all these years.

Ultimately, Alec decided that it would be for the best to tell the Clave that Magnus managed to recover Clary’s memories, but not go into the specifics of his previous involvement in the case.

His conference call with the Consul and other Heads of Institutes was short and to the point. No one had news on the Circle. But Alec knew that didn’t mean much in the grand scheme of things, the Circle had been operating in darkness for years from what they had gathered, they knew how to disappear.

The only thing that got him worried was when Jia told them that the Seelies had ceased all communications with the Clave and they didn’t know why. Some of the more conservatives Heads of Institute had a lot to say about that, and Alec had to bite his tongue not to snap at them.

Later, in his private conference call with Imogen and Jia, after telling them that Magnus got the girl’s memories back, he asked for their approval to send a representative to talk to the Seelies and figure out what was going on. They approved it immediately as all of them knew that if the Seelies pulled away the Alliance would break, and they really couldn’t deal with that now.

Alec was about to summon Izzy to his office to give her the mission, when someone knocked on his door, and both Izzy and Jace came in.

“You’re in a better mood,” Jace snickered, throwing himself on the chair in front of Alec’s desk. “Hubby did a good job at appeasing you after we left?”

“Either that or I had a whole night without anyone screeching in my ears for us to find someone else they lost,” Alec smirked, before turning to Izzy and getting serious. “I have a mission for you.”

Izzy nodded for him to go ahead, slipping into a position of attention immediately. Even though Alec had never demanded it from her and Jace, they still had the habit from years of training.

“The Seelies stopped all communications with the Clave, I want you to visit with Meliorn and try to find out what is going on and if they are pulling away from the Alliance,” Alec said in his Head of the Institute voice. “Jace or Andrew can go with you if you think it’s necessary, but I don’t believe sending a whole team would be a good idea.”

“No, you are right, it’s better if I go on my own,” she said thoughtfully. “Whatever it is, it’s better to go over with a friendly tone, if we send a team, or even if I take Jace with me, it could look threatening.”

“I don’t need to tell you how important this is, right?” Alec questioned, and Izzy nodded curtly. “I trust you to figure this out for us, Iz.”

“I got it, big brother,” Izzy said earnestly, before leaving the office.

As soon as the door closed behind her, Alec exhaled deeply, and rubbed his temples with a hand, it was like they couldn’t get a break. Since finding out the Circle was still active, they hadn’t managed to have a single calm day.

“How bad is it?” Jace asked, frowning.

“If the Seelies are really pulling away from the Alliance, then the Alliance will be broken, and we’ll go back to how things were before my wedding,” Alec sighed.

“But things wouldn’t go back to being that bad,” Jace speculated. “I mean, we spent two years in peace, things wouldn’t revert back immediately, right?”

“I don’t know,” Alec shrugged. “A lot of people never got used to the Alliance to begin with, a lot of Downworlders still don’t trust us, and you had to hear some of the Heads of Institute talking about Seelies, they act like we should’ve expected since the beginning that the Seelies would pull away at the first adversity because Seelies can’t be trusted and all those old prejudices.”

“A bunch of old farts being jerks, what’s new?”

“What’s new is that if the Seelies really pull away from the Alliance, people will begin to believe those old farts are right, and the next step after that is people starting to believe Valentine is right,” Alec said, shaking his head in exasperation. “And we know what comes after that.”

“But if that was really the case, we would resist,” Jace said with conviction. “We know the Downworlders are not what Valentine claims they are, there is a whole generation of Shadowhunters that believe in the Alliance. There are half-Seelie Shadowhunters in Los Angeles and other couples of Downworlders and Shadowhunters like you and Magnus. Things are not like they were back when the Circle was doing whatever they wanted.”

The spark of hope and conviction coming from Jace’s side of their bond was contagious. He was right. Alec knew better than anyone else that they had good people by their side, and Jace made him believe they could outnumber the bad ones if it came to that. He only hoped it wouldn’t come to that anytime soon.

“Besides, Imogen is by our side, and she is scary as hell,” Jace snickered after a moment, making Alec chuckle.

Jace stayed in the office with Alec for the rest of the day. It wasn’t unusual for Jace to spend the day in the office while Alec worked, what was unusual was for him to be as fidgety as he was now. While Alec went through most of the paperwork on his desk, Jace played with one of Alec’s pens, flipping it in the air and trying to catch it with his foot. He kept dropping the pen and starting again, taking Alec’s focus away from his work.

“Do you plan on spending the whole day here watching me work?” Alec asked with a raised eyebrow, after Jace flipped the pen over their heads three times in a row.

“Well, I planned on going on my scheduled patrol with Izzy, but you sent her to the Seelie realm and gave our patrol to another team,” Jace shrugged.

“Are you seriously telling me you have nothing else to do?” Alec questioned in disbelief. “No late reports, no overdue monitor duties, no recruits to help train, nothing?”

“Well, I could do that,” Jace grimaced, looking at Alec sideways. “Or I could stay here and spend some quality time with my _ parabatai_, the best option was obvious,” he smirked.

Alec snorted and put his pen down, focusing for a moment on his bond with Jace and getting a wave of restless energy, he wasn’t sure where that restlessness was coming from, but he had the dreadful feeling that it had something to do with Clary being unconscious. “Let’s go train so I can punch this smirk out of your face,” he offered, making Jace grin.

“You couldn’t punch me in the face even in your best form,” Jace sniggered. “And let’s face it, you are not in your best form.”

“Magnus would disagree,” Alec replied smugly, making Jace laugh loudly on their way to the training room.

Hodge was training Alison in kendo when they got there. She still had faint scars on her face and arm from the burns she suffered two years ago, but she never complained about it or anything else. Alec considered her one of his best soldiers.

“I heard Jocelyn’s daughter is unconscious again?” Hodge asked as Jace and Alec prepared to spar.

“Yeah, Magnus said it will take about twenty four hours for her brain to accommodate the memories she got back,” Jace said distractedly.

Alec bit the inside of his mouth, feeling reluctant. He didn’t want anyone to know too much about how they got Clary’s memories back, he didn’t think the Clave could say much about it, but he would still rather keep it quiet.

“Oh, so he got her memories back?” Hodge questioned, looking at Jace and Alec sideways, while Alison tried to find a gap in his defense.

Jace exchanged a glance with Alec before saying anything, probably feeling his reluctance. “Hm-hum,” he mumbled affirmatively, getting into fighting position in front of Alec.

Hodge narrowed his eyes to them, before turning his attention back to Alison. “Lucky girl,” he said in a non-committal tone. “Good thing that Magnus knows so many Warlocks and found the one who took her memories, right?”

Neither Jace nor Alec quite answered, only giving Hodge incomprehensible mumbles, before starting training.

They had already showered and were back in Alec’s office, when Jace brought it back up. “What was all that anxiety about?”

“I don’t want anyone to know the extent of Magnus’ involvement with Jocelyn and Clary,” Alec explained, organizing the paperwork left on his desk and getting ready to leave the office for the day. “The Alliance was not active when he helped them, so he didn’t do anything wrong, but you know how information travels within the Clave.”

“Yeah,” Jace sighed, running his hand through his hair. “In no time people would start to believe he was the one who stole the Mortal Cup, and that he hid it with Jocelyn for all these years,” he rolled his eyes. “But what about Imogen and Jia?”

“I gave them a general explanation, but didn’t get into the specifics,” Alec confessed. “If it comes up later I can explain things better, but for now that’s enough.”

“Alright,” Jace shrugged, not caring much that Alec was keeping things from their superiors, as Alec knew he wouldn’t.

Izzy was not back from the Seelie realm yet by the time Alec was ready to go back home, and he assumed it had to be a good thing, if the Seelies had refused to allow her to go into their realm she would’ve come back immediately, as such, she was probably with Meliorn or one of her other friends.

Magnus was waiting for him with a drink when he got home, and Alec smiled brightly, almost feeling like everything was back to normal.

Almost, because as soon as he caught Magnus’ hand in his, Alec felt the chill on his skin, a clear sign that he had been using more magic than he should. He was not sure what he was supposed to do now. He understood that Magnus was only trying to help as much people protect themselves as possible, but he couldn’t stop himself from worrying about his husband’s well-being.

“You are depleted again,” Alec sighed, rubbing Magnus’ cold hands with his. “What did you do today?”

“I set some wards for the Werewolves,” Magnus said, raising their hands to his face and kissing Alec’s hand tenderly. “I’m one of the only Warlocks left in town, Alexander, I have to help them.”

“You have to rest,” Alec said seriously. “You can’t help anyone if you are not okay.”

“You are right, love,” Magnus conceded, taking a step closer to Alec and placing his head on Alec’s shoulder. “I promise I’ll try to rest more.”

Alec knew that promise didn’t mean much. He knew Magnus far too well to believe it. But there wasn’t much he could do about it, so he let it go for now. He kissed the top of Magnus’ head and inhaled his exquisite sent. Magnus’ smell always had the ability to empty Alec’s mind.

They stayed there, hugging in the middle of the living room, for a couple of seconds, until Magnus’ hand started to travel down through Alec’s back with a clear objective.

Alec mumbled incoherently when Magnus’ hands found their way inside his pants, Magnus could be a little depleted, but he was alright, and Alec was still feeling the couple of days they spent apart. He wanted his husband. He pulled Magnus to the couch, kissing every part of him he could reach, running his hands through Magnus’ body, before unzipping his pants.

“Hm,” Magnus mumbled in satisfaction. “I love it when you get like this.”

“I’m not needy,” Alec murmured, sucking on Magnus’ neck, while his hands worked on Magnus’ many buttons.

“No,” Magnus moaned. “I’m the needy one,” he panted, pushing Alec to the other side of the couch, before straddling his lap.

Alec was ready to pick Magnus up from the couch and take him to their bedroom, when Magnus placed a hand on his chest and stopped everything, raising his head towards the front door.

“Someone is here,” Magnus sighed in obvious frustration, getting up from Alec’s lap and adjusting his pants.

Before Alec could even consider getting up, someone knocked on their door, making him grunt in dissatisfaction.

Magnus chuckled, and looking at Alec through his eyelashes, he mouthed; “Later,” before directing himself to the front door, giving Alec time to recompose himself.

“Am I interrupting something?” Alec heard Izzy’s voice coming from the front door after a moment.

“Always,” Alec replied loudly, giving up on adjusting his clothes, and throwing himself back on the couch. “Is everything okay?” He asked as she walked into the living room with Magnus.

“Yeah, I just got back from Meliorn’s place, I wanted to tell you what’s going on,” she said, looking at his undone shirt and disheveled hair pointedly, before sitting on the couch with him. “Sorry for interrupting.”

Alec rolled his eyes to her, before asking. “What happened? Why did they stop communications with the Clave?”

“I guess our no Institute talk at home is out of the window,” Magnus said with a hint of annoyance, directing himself to the drink cart.

“Sorry, Magnus” Alec grunted, covering his face with a hand in dismay. Since the Circle’s return he had completely forgot that he and Magnus had agreed not to bring Alec’s work home.

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” Magnus said with an unenthusiastic hand gesture, giving Izzy a drink, before sitting on his armchair across from them. “You were saying the Seelies stopped communications with the Clave?” He prompted, gesturing for Izzy to go ahead.

“Right,” Izzy said, biting her lower lip. “You remember they sent scouts after Valentine, right?” Alec nodded and she sighed. “They didn’t report back when they were supposed to, and the Seelie Queen can’t feel their life force anymore.”

“They are dead?” Alec said with a sense of dread.

Izzy nodded mournfully. “Meliorn believes it was Valentine, but he doesn’t have much more information, he was not in direct contact with the scouts before they disappeared.”

“That’s bad,” Alec grunted, running his hands through his hair. “If the Seelies pull away from the Alliance because of that—”

“I don’t think they will, they know the Clave doesn’t support Valentine,” Izzy said with conviction. “And all of my Seelie friends believe that the Alliance is the best thing that ever happened to Shadow World relations, I don’t think they would want to risk going back to the time of the Accords.”

“Downworlders have more freedom and autonomy now,” Magnus agreed thoughtfully. “It would be a terrible regression for all of us if the Alliance was broken.”

“Okay,” Alec exhaled slowly. “But they still stopped communications, what should I expect now?”

“It’s only the mourning period, I think they will reestablish contact after that,” Izzy shrugged. “But you know how things are, there is never a way to know for sure.”

“Either way, I want you to keep an eye on this situation for me,” Alec said, musing his options. “Nothing invasive, of course, just keep contact as much as you can.”

“Sure thing, boss,” Izzy said, standing up with a mock salute. “Now I should go and allow you to go back to what you were doing,” she sniggered, waving her hand suggestively, before leaving.

“She enjoys mocking our sex life far too much,” Alec mumbled, covering his face with a hand, when the front door closed behind Izzy.

“Only because you always blush, darling,” Magnus chuckled, moving from the armchair to sit on the couch close to Alec.

His demeanor was slightly off now. As if Izzy’s visit had broken some kind of resolve Magnus had before.

“What’s it, Magnus?” Alec questioned at once, before Magnus had the chance to make him forget about it.

“Some of the other Downworld representatives are wary of the resurfacing of the Mortal Cup,” Magnus explained, swirling his drink on the glass.

“We won’t allow Valentine to take it,” Alec promised, even though he knew he didn’t have the power to do so. “I’ll do everything I can to find the Mortal Cup before Valentine can.”

“Well,” Magnus grimaced, looking away from Alec. “That’s part of the problem.”

“What do you mean?” Alec frowned.

“The Downworlders are wary of Valentine getting the Cup, of course, but they are also worried about what will happen if the Clave gets it,” Magnus said reluctantly. “There is a general fear that as soon as the Clave has the power to create more Shadowhunters, and control Demons, back in their hands, the Alliance will fall and the Clave will try to go back to a position of power over the rest of the Shadow World.”

“Do you think that?” Alec questioned, watching Magnus attentively.

“It’s complicated, Alexander,” Magnus said evenly, focusing on his drink and not looking at Alec. “I trust you. I trust Izzy and Jace, and I even trust your parents to an extent, but you know I don’t trust the Clave as an institution. Not even after all the good things they did in the past couple of years. There are certain individuals still in positions of power who never wanted the Alliance to begin with, and having the Mortal Cup back would open a window for them to discard everything we’ve worked for all these years.”

Alec sighed and nodded. He knew that. It was basically the same thing he had talked about with Jace earlier, but Jace’s spark of conviction was still bright in him, and he wouldn’t allow the prospect of the Alliance falling get him down when it was still a remote possibility.

“I don’t think it would happen,” Alec said with confidence. “Yes, there is people in the Clave who would want to end the Alliance, but I think the people who would want to keep things as they are now far outnumber them. Having a good relationship with Downworlders is good for us too, going back to fighting wouldn’t do us any favors.”

“But you agree there would be an internal conflict within the Clave?” Magnus asked, finally looking back at Alec, with a raised eyebrow.

“Yes, there is a chance,” Alec admitted a little deflated. “Maybe it’s time to have new conversations with the Clave about the future of the Alliance, and try to take these new developments into account.”

“Maybe,” Magnus shrugged. “But this is not the time or the place to talk about the Clave and the Alliance,” he said, tilting his head to look at Alec through his lashes. “I believe we were in the middle of something before we were interrupted?”

“Oh,” Alec chuckled, doing his best to let go of the seriousness of their conversation. “Maybe you should remind me of where we stopped?”

“Gladly,” Magnus grinned, throwing his empty glass over his shoulder and jumping into Alec’s arms.


	9. Chapter 9

Waking up with Magnus’ bare skin pressing against his was always a good morning for Alec. He spent a few minutes in bed, running his fingers through Magnus’ hair and admiring his gorgeous husband, before getting up to go to work.

There wasn’t much that could put him in a bad mood after that.

_At least there shouldn’t be_, he thought, when as soon as he set foot on the park in front of the Institute, he saw Clary running out, with Jace and Izzy on her heels.

Alec crossed the park in long strides, determined to stop them before they could go too far. And when he got in earshot, he managed to hear what Izzy was saying.

“No, we have to call Alec, right now,” Izzy grunted, grabbing Clary’s arm and making her stop.

“There is no time!” Clary screamed, trying to pull her arm away from Izzy’s grip. “You don’t want to help me, you don’t have to, but you have no right to stop me!”

Alec sighed and asked the Angel for patience, before stepping in front of them. “Is there a reason the three of you are arguing outside the Institute when we are in high alert, or should I just send Clary to the Alaska Institute, where you can’t possibly cause problems,” he raised an eyebrow to her, then turned to his siblings. “While Jace and Izzy get ichor duty for the rest of the year?”

“We told her we had to wait for you to get here!” Izzy exclaimed, releasing Clary's arm, at the same time as Jace complained;

“They woke me up! You can’t give me ichor duty when I was forced out of bed to be here!”

“She was trying to sneak out, I needed your help!” Izzy countered with obvious exasperation.

“I have to go home!” Clary screamed over the other two, stomping her foot. “I remember things now, and— and— they don’t make sense, some of it— and I think I know where the Cup is, but I don’t understand the box— and— I need to find my mother!”

“Stop!” Alec ordered, raising a hand to shut Jace and Izzy up. “You said you think you know where the Cup is?”

“I don’t know,” Clary huffed, throwing her arms up in frustration. “All these memories are so confusing! I know they were not there before, and some of them make no sense, and now some of the dreams I had growing up make a lot more sense. And my mother is missing, and she can’t explain these things to me, and nothing is right, and—” Clary blabbled, getting more incoherent the more she talked.

“That’s enough,” Alec stopped her firmly. “Inside,” he ordered, gesturing to the Institute’s front door. “We are too exposed out here,” he said, looking around and waiting for them to walk in front of him.

Alec directed them straight to his office, gestured for Maryse to come back later when she tried to give him his tablet, and locked the door behind them.

“Now, why do you think you know where the Cup is?” He asked, nodding for Clary to talk. “And try to focus on what’s important.”

“Right,” she sighed, closing her eyes for a second and starting to pace in front of them. “There is a box. It’s a wooden box, and it looked old, I can remember now, my mom crying holding the box while she thought I was asleep. I remember asking her about the box, but she never answered, she took me to Magnus instead, and he erased my memories.” Then Clary opened her eyes and stared at Alec. “I remember Magnus now,” she murmured in a humble tone. “He was always very kind to me, he gave me some of my favorite art supplies, and always complimented my paintings. He tried to convince my mom to tell me everything, and she was the one who always refused and insisted on erasing my memories, she even told him she would find another Warlock to do it if he refused. I’m really sorry I was rude to him.”

“Say that to him,” Alec said impassively. 

He knew it was somewhat of an improvement that she was acknowledging her wrongdoings, but it was still too little for him. She had just tried to sneak out on her own, and that showed him that she was still determined to doing things her way and refusing to understand how dangerous that was.

When he didn’t say anything else, Jace cleared his throat beside him, and Izzy looked at him pointedly, making Alec exhale deeply.

“Yeah, sure, apology accepted,” he said with a dismissive hand wave. “Now, back to the box,” he added after a moment of awkwardness, gesturing for her to keep talking.

“I don’t think my mom moved it after I saw her with it,” Clary said hesitantly.

“And you think the Cup is in the box?” Alec repeated for confirmation. It didn’t make much sense for him that Jocelyn would cry over a box with the Mortal Cup in it, but who knew what she may have been thinking.

“Maybe? I don’t know,” Clary sighed in frustration. “I just know it's important. But it was a long time ago and the memory feels so old, and it's kind of mixed with other memories from back then,” she said, pacing around agitated. “But I know we have to go get it! It’s important, I’m sure it’s important!”

“We can go and check if the box is still there,” Jace said, and Alec felt the same restless energy he had the day before through their bond. “Even if it’s not the Cup, it could give us something to work with, it’s worth the shot!”

“It could help me find my mom,” Clary said, pausing in front of Alec and nodding her head emphatically.

“We can’t just go there without a plan, I’ll have to think this over,” Alec said firmly, gesturing for the two of them to settle down. “We have protocols to follow, and we’ll need backup—”

“There is no time for this!” Clary exclaimed forcefully. “We need to find the Cup to get my mom back! The Circle can’t get it before we do!”

“You said it’s in your home,” Alec stated, his patience already wearing down. “The Circle was there looking for the Cup days ago, they either found the box, and it wasn’t the Cup, or they didn't find it at all. Why would they find it now? Unless you told someone else about this?”

“I didn’t tell anyone!” Clary retorted offended.

“You may have not told anyone explicitly, but you were blabbering about it in the middle of the command center, before running out alone,” Izzy pointed out, exchanging a look with Alec.

Alec sighed and rubbed his face for a moment; “Alright,” he nodded thoughtfully. “It doesn’t make much of a difference, we’ll still need a backup team, maybe Underhill’s. Even if there was no breach, chances are the Circle has had someone scouting the place the whole time and we will be surrounded as soon as we set foot inside.”

“It would make sense,” Jace said, throwing himself on his usual chair in front of Alec’s desk just as Alec sat on his. “They probably think Clary will show up there eventually.”

“And that’s the reason why she shouldn’t show up there now,” Alec said seriously.

“What?” Clary exclaimed affronted. “You can’t do that and—”

“Really,” Izzy grunted, elbowing Clary to shut up. “Don’t start it again, you know how it ends.”

“If the Cup is really there, it’s better to be discreet,” Alec said, ignoring her.

“But Clary knows where the box is, it would be more efficient to take her,” Jace said tentatively, trying to appeal to Alec’s mission-oriented side.

“Clary can tell us where exactly the box is, and we’ll retrieve it,” Alec replied, turning to Clary with a raised brow.

“But—” Clary mumbled. “It’s my home, you have to let me go with you!” She said stubbornly.

Izzy elbowed Clary again and looked at her pointedly.

“Please, Alec, it’s her home, she never had the chance to pick her things up and say goodbye to the place where she grew up,” Jace said in a pleading tone, and Alec felt that he was relating to Clary’s feeling of loss, like her, he was taken from his previous life and thrown in the New York Institute without much chance to say goodbye.

“That’s not fair,” Alec muttered to Jace under his breath, before focusing on Clary. “If I allow you to come with us, you’ll have to listen to me and follow our lead—”

“I get it, I won’t do anything wrong.”

“Interrupting your commanding officer is already something wrong, just for you to know,” Izzy said cheekly.

“Right,” Clary grunted impatiently, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms.

“You are not trained, so if you go with us, you’ll have to stay behind Jace and Izzy until we tell you it’s safe, if we tell you to run, you run without arguing,” Alec continued as if he hadn’t been interrupted. “If you manage to not get in trouble this time around, I may consider allowing you to stay in New York in the future.”

“What does that mean?” Clary questioned, already turning confrontational.

But before she could start ranting again, Jace stood up and caught her arm. “Thank you, Alec.”

Alec rolled his eyes to Jace and picked up some of the papers on his desk, gesturing to the door with his head. He had to check on last night’s incident reports, and fill in a mission form before they would be able to go anywhere.

“Ask mom to come in, please, Iz,” he said distractedly, already running his eyes through the reports on his desk. “And, Clary,” he added before they could leave the office. “If you try to sneak out again, you’ll go straight to the Alaska Institute,” he raised his head and locked eyes with her. “Do you want to know what happens at the Alaska Institute? Nothing,” he said pointedly. “Ever. Demons don't dig the cold.”

He was almost sure Clary was going to reply, but Jace and Izzy were quicker, and pushed her out of the office.

Maryse walked in not much later and briefed him on last night’s patrols. Nothing out of the ordinary had happened, but instead of making Alec feel relieved, it made him uneasy. They knew the Circle was out there now, something was bound to happen soon, but the waiting was unnerving.

“You are not taking the girl out with you, are you?” Maryse questioned with an eyebrow raised. “You know better than that, Alec.”

“Maybe she’ll be a bit more cooperative if I give her a chance?” Alec shrugged.

“She is not trained, she can put all of you in danger,” Maryse stated seriously. “And I don’t think she is willing to learn, she is much too undisciplined to be in a team and follow command.”

“I don’t know, mom,” Alec sighed, putting his tablet down. “What I know is that we have to find the Mortal Cup before Valentine can, if the location is buried somewhere inside her mind, she will be more complacent if I give her some leeway.”

Maryse exhaled deeply, shaking her head for a moment. “Be careful,” she urged him, taking his hand over the desk. “I don’t want you and your siblings to get hurt.”

“I know,” he said, squeezing her hand lightly. “I’ll do my best to take care of them.”

“And of yourself,” she advised.

“And of myself,” Alec agreed, nodding earnestly.

It didn’t take long for Alec to finish the more pressing paperwork, and summon everyone who was supposed to be involved in the box’s retrieval to his office. He stood up and stared at all the Shadowhunters in front of him in, Jace, Izzy, Underhill and his team, all in soldier stance, waiting respectfully for Alec’s orders, and Clary to the side, with her arms crossed and brow furrowed.

Alec could only hope she would keep her mouth shut, at least for the time he would take to give everyone the mission instructions.

“Our objective today is looking for clues on the Mortal Cup or anything that can lead us to Valentine’s current location,” Alec said in his best commanding tone. “We have reason to believe the Circle has been scouting the place since Jocelyn Morgenstern’s disappearance, that being said, our instructions are to bring any Circle members we encounter, preferably alive and able to provide new information on their organization.”

Everyone nodded their understanding, except Clary, and Alec moved on to the tactical part of the instructions. “We are aiming at discretion today, Andrew, I want you and your team to stand by, keeping an eye on the building. If anything is out of order I’ll send a signal to your phones, and you should do the same.”

“Yes, sir,” Underhill said firmly, and the others nodded.

“Everything understood?” Alec asked, looking around his office to each of them and only getting nods of confirmation. “Alright, let’s go, then.”

Alec decided it would be more efficient to take the subway than to run all the way to Brooklyn. They were all under glamours, and had just arrived at their stop, when a phone started to ring and all the Mundanes around them started to check their pockets. Alec would like to believe it was not one of them, but just as he thought it, Clary took her phone out of her pocket.

Without much communication, but knowing each other well enough, Izzy and Jace grabbed Clary by the arms and pulled her to a corner out of the way, while Alec gestured for the others to go ahead and set up a perimeter.

“What? Why did you do that?” Clary questioned, with the phone still ringing on her hand.

“We are under an Invisibility Rune, the Mundanes would notice if someone invisible started to talk out of nowhere,” Izzy hissed impatiently. “And honestly, nowadays it’s really hard to spread rumors that the subway is haunted.”

“It used to be a great solution according to our history books,” Jace shrugged, before turning to Clary and pointing to the phone. “If it’s not urgent you shouldn’t even pick up, we have things to do.”

“It’s Simon,” Clary retorted, tapping the phone to answer the call. “Simon, hey,” she said, putting the phone in her ear and taking a step away from them. “I know, I should’ve called you right back, are you okay?”

She kept talking to Simon for a few more seconds, making Alec grunt and exchange a look with Izzy, for someone who was in such a hurry to get to her house and find the box, Clary sure had no idea on how to be concise.

“I’m okay, I remember things now, I’m at the—” she was saying, when Izzy took the phone out of her hand. “Hey, you can’t do that!” Clary protested as Izzy turned her phone off.

“Didn’t you learn anything from the last time you took Simon with us in a mission?” Izzy questioned exasperated. “Seriously, if you want to be one of us, you’ll have to learn how to keep the Mundanes at a safe distance.”

“And silence your phone,” Alec grunted impatiently, that should’ve been obvious. “What’s the point of an Invisibility Rune if you are going to make all that noise?”

“Got it,” Clary huffed, taking her phone from Izzy and silencing it, before putting it back in her pocket. “Can we go now?”

“She talks as if_ we_ were the ones delaying things,” Alec muttered, walking ahead of them.

The antique shop under Clary’s loft was completely wrecked, but there were no signs that the police had been there, Alec looked around at the Mundanes walking up and down the street, and none of them seemed to notice that there was something out of normal with the shop.

They got into the shop through the bursted window, and Clary stopped in the middle of the wreckage, looking around with her eyes wide and her mouth opened.

“Everything is ruined,” she murmured, walking towards the back of the shop as if in a trance.

Before she could get too far away from them, Jace stepped ahead and grabbed her, gesturing for her to be quiet.

“I told you to stay close to us,” Alec hissed to her, before gesturing for Izzy and Jace to do a quick search around the shop and check if there was anyone else there.

“It seems to be clear,” Jace said and Alec nodded, gesturing for them to go to the back of the shop.

Alec climbed the stairs in front of them with an arrow notched and ready for anything that could jump from the corner. The loft was as wrecked as the store below, and just like the store below, there were no signs of the Circle still being there.

“Where’s the box?” Alec questioned Clary, who was looking around with obvious distress at seeing her home ransacked.

She gestured to a door to the side, and Alec walked into it in front of her to find the remains of a torched bedroom. Clary whimpered in surprise behind him, and walked to the center of the room, touching what Alec supposed used to be her bed.

“Are you alright?” Jace asked, keeping his eyes on the door and his seraph blade ready for anything that could appear.

“There’s nothing left of me here,” Clary whispered, looking around and rummaging through scorched things on the bedside table.

“Of course there isn’t,” Alec stated seriously. “Your mother was trying to erase any trace that you existed, so that you couldn’t be tracked.”

“She was protecting you,” Izzy asserted, looking through Clary’s things on the wardrobe. “We should take anything that was not burned,” she added after a moment, opening a drawer.

Clary nodded to her and handed over her bag.

“The box first,” Alec said firmly, nodding for Clary to talk, while Izzy picked clothes from the wardrobe and shoved inside the bag.

“It’s somewhere over here,” Clary said, crouching beside her bed and pulling the carpet, Alec crouched too, and started pulling it with her, until they uncovered the floorboards.

It was easy to see where one of the floorboards was loose, and Clary reached for it without hesitation, taking the board out and revealing the hiding space she had remembered. She was about to reach inside, but Alec pushed her away.

“You don’t know if it’s warded, it could be dangerous,” he said before she had the chance to complain.

Alec knew he shouldn’t just shove his hand inside a hole on the floor when he didn’t know what kind of protections were applied, but if the apartment was really being watched by the Circle, they had no time to call for Magnus to check the box for wards before pulling it out. 

He sighed, hoping Magnus would be able to fix him if anything went wrong, before shoving his hand inside and taking a wooden box out. The box had metal ornaments with the letters J and C on top, it was not big, maybe big enough for the Mortal Cup, but Alec was not sure. He waited for a second to see if anything would happen to him for taking the box out, before showing it to Clary.

“Is this the box you remember?”

“Yeah,” she murmured, staring at the letters with her brow furrowed, and reached to take it from his hand. “Can I open it?”

“Go ahead,” Alec said, standing up and giving her the box. 

If it really was the Cup, Alec would take the box from her immediately and they would have to hurry back to the Institute. They all held their breaths, even Jace took his eyes from the bedroom door to look at the box, and they watched as Clary ran her fingers through the letters for a moment, before opening the lid.

It wasn’t the Cup.

That much was obvious. Which wasn’t that obvious was what it was.

“I don’t know what any of this is,” Clary said bewildered.

“It looks like our baby stuff,” Izzy said, reaching inside the box to pick up a silver rattle. “Doesn’t it, Alec?”

Alec nodded, picking up the white baby shoe from the box. “It’s just like the ones they manufacture in Alicante,” he said, turning it on his hands to check it out.

“Do you think this is from when I was a baby?” Clary asked, frowning, before taking something that looked like a lock of white hair from the box. “But this can’t be mine.”

“And it wouldn’t make sense for your mother to cry over your baby stuff when you were right here,” Jace pointed out, watching the lock of hair on Clary’s hand with a frown.

“Maybe she was mourning her Shadowhunter life,” Izzy shrugged, putting the rattle back in the box. “Maybe these are the only things she managed to bring from Alicante.”

“Other than the Mortal Cup, you mean,” Alec nodded, giving the shoe to Clary.

He was about to say they should leave, when a scratching sound came from downstairs.

“There is someone here,” he mouthed to the others, picking his bow from his back and notching an arrow, just as Izzy uncoiled her whip, and Jace got into position with his seraph blade.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter gives somewhat of an explanation for everyone who have been wondering why Alec didn't send Clary away to Alicante yet, or at least I think it does.  
And in the other hand, for everyone who wanted Clary to start changing her attitude, maybe this one is a beginning? Who knows... 
> 
> Anyway, I hope you all liked the chapter! Please, let me know in the comments!


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember that Canon-Typical Violence tag? Keep that one in mind today.

Everything went still for a moment and they waited. They knew this could happen, they had prepared for this, and now it was time for action.

Alec nudged Jace with his foot and pointed to his ear, still holding his bow in position, ready to release the arrow in a moment’s notice.

Jace nodded, picked his stele from the holster, and activated Alec’s Heightened Hearing Rune at the same time as Izzy activated hers, then Jace turned for Alec to activate his.

Now they would at least be able to hear if the people downstairs approached the room where they were, and with some luck, they would manage to figure out how many they were, and if it was feasible to fight them with only Underhill’s team as backup or if they would have to call for more teams.

They heard a low creak from somewhere close to the stairs, then a voice Alec didn’t recognized whispered.

“Upstairs.”

“It sounded like more than one,” a second voice answered in the same tone.

“But he said she would be alone,” a third voice chimed in, before someone shushed them.

The she on their conversation could only be Clary, and the person who said she would be alone was probably Valentine, which led Alec to believe he was right, and the Circle really had been waiting for Clary to go back home.

He waited for more sounds or more voices for a few moments, before raising his hand with three fingers up, looking questioningly at Jace and Izzy beside him.

Jace shook his head slowly, still focusing his attention on the sounds coming from the stairs, before putting up four fingers and getting a nod of confirmation from Izzy. Then he gestured to the door with his head, and Alec got the idea of what he thought they should do.

It wouldn’t be good to fight in such close quarters, the bedroom was too small for them to fight against four other Shadowhunters, they could end up hurting each other. But if they got out of the bedroom and attacked their opponents instead of holding defense, they would have a better chance.

Four against four would be easy enough under normal circumstances, but Clary had no fighting abilities, they would have to cover her while keeping up with the fight, and that was a major risk. 

At least they wouldn’t have to hold the fight on their own for too long, Alec picked the phone from his pocket and sent the signal to Underhill, before signaling for Jace and Izzy to get out of the bedroom and attack.

They stormed out of the bedroom together, and the first thing Alec saw was that they were right, there were four of them, all dressed in black leather jackets and regular Shadowhunter gear. If not for the Circle Runes on their necks, they would pass without problem as Clave affiliated. There was only one who looked old enough to have been in the original Circle. And if Alec had to guess, he would say that one was in charge of the others.

The second thing Alec noticed before they had even moved, was that one of them was far too young, he couldn’t be more than fifteen years old, and had jumped in surprise and almost dropped his seraph blade when Alec, Jace and Izzy appeared.

Alec noticed it all really fast, because as soon as they appeared, the Circle member who seemed to be their parents’ age, advanced towards Clary, who was behind Jace.

As one, Izzy used her whip to tangle his hand, while Jace stopped the Circle member’s sword with his seraph blade. Alec didn’t have any time to think before he too had to spin into action, one of the other Circle members were taking a phone from his pocket, while the other two advanced, following the older one’s example.

Alec shoot an arrow on the phone without hesitation, breaking it in half. They couldn’t allow them to communicate with the Circle. Then he dropped his bow, taking his seraph blade from his holster and stopping one of them from helping their leader fight Jace and Izzy.

The three of them fought the four Circle members as one, attacking, defending and covering each other’s backs like they had done so many times before, when fighting Demons.

The difference was that the Circle members were much more intelligent than regular Demons, the three of them couldn’t fight the four Circle members off for much longer, and too quickly the older one managed to disentangle himself from the fight and advance towards Clary.

Like a blur, Alec saw when the older Circle member reached for Clary’s arm, she tried to fight him, swinging her blade without much accuracy, but he was much more skilled than her; He made her drop the blade and grabbed the box, kicking Clary on the stomach, and making her fly back and hit the wall, just as Jace and Izzy moved towards him, and Alec held back two of their opponents, leaving one of them free to slash his seraph blade in Izzy’s direction.

Izzy whimpered, making Jace and Alec growl in unison when blood gushed from her arm. They turned as one, slashing their seraph blades in synchrony, rushing to cover Izzy. When a bang came from the stairs, and Andrew appeared with Alison and Raj, running to the fight.

Alison grabbed the younger Circle member, who Alec had been holding off, disarming and containing him in a swift move, while Raj and Andrew fought the other two, leaving Jace and Alec free to storm the older one, with Izzy bleeding, but still holding on to her whip that was wrapped around the older Circle member’s arm.

After that the fight was pretty much over. The older Circle member was the hardest to contain, but once Alec managed to draw an Immobility Rune on him while Jace held his arms back, there was nothing else he could do.

“Right on time,” Izzy said to Andrew breathlessly as Alec crouched beside her to check on her wound.

The gash on her arm looked clean enough despite the amount of blood that covered Izzy, it looked like an Iratze would be enough to heal it, but she might need a blood replenishing potion later. Alec would have to talk to Maryse about buying a supply of those from Magnus. He activated her Iratze and held her arm, waiting for the cut to close.

“We were not supposed to fight anyone, we were just supposed to grab the girl,” the younger Circle member squealed.

“Shut up, boy,” one of the others grunted.

“But this is not right,” the younger one insisted. “They are Shadowhunters like us! We are supposed to show them the right way! We are supposed to explain to them that the Circle just wants to save us all!”

The boy really seemed to believe what he was saying, he was far too young to know any better. Alec was almost sure he had to be the son of one of the original Circle members. And if that was the case, it was likely he had grown up being brainwashed by his parents and Valentine, and had no idea about how the real world was. Alec couldn’t stop himself from wondering if there was still time to bring him to the right side.

“The Circle exists to protect us from evil!” The boy said persistently.

“I’ll have to agree with your friend here, shut up, boy,” Jace said in annoyance, helping Clary up after checking her for injuries.

“You are misguided! You don’t understand!” The younger one continued.

“Will someone, please, just give him a Silence Rune?” Jace grunted, taking the box back from the older Circle member's grip, and handing it to Clary.

Alec shook his head to Andrew, before asking Izzy; “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, big brother,” Izzy said, flexing her arm that was still covered in blood. “Good as new.”

“What about you?” Alec asked, helping Izzy up and raising an eyebrow to Clary.

She just nodded stiffly, staring at all the blood that was covering Izzy, the floor, and the immobilized Circle members, and clutching the box close to her chest.

Alec glanced at the box for a second, it wasn’t the Cup, but their mission wasn’t a complete fail, they had four Circle members to interrogate now, maybe they would be able to convince at least one to tell them where Valentine was hiding, and what his plan was.

“She may be a little shocked,” Jace told Alec under his breath, making Alec sigh and shake his head.

He walked across the room to the place where the Circle member’s phone had ended up, and picked it up along with his discarded arrow, while the others checked the Circle members for additional weapons and other phones. The phone was bursted, but there was always the chance they could recover information from it.

“We are done here,” Alec said, gesturing for them to pack everything up and go.

Taking four immobilized and glamoured Circle members from Brooklyn to the Institute wasn’t exactly an easy task, but with the judicious use of some extra runes, they managed just fine.

Everyone in the command center stopped to watch them dragging the Circle members inside. They paused in front of the elevator, and Alec noticed the older one staring at both Robert and Hodge with his jaw locked and hate on his eyes, before Jace pushed him into the elevator.

“Separate them,” Alec ordered Andrew, Jace, Alison and Raj as they dragged the prisoners into the elevator. “Don’t allow them to communicate with each other.”

They couldn’t keep them together. He had learned from his parents, when they were preparing him to take over the Institute, that when interrogating groups it was always more efficient to separate them. It was easier to keep oneself loyal to a cause when in a group, loyalty could be weakened when there was no one else around to witness it. And with them separated, they could use information they got from one to trick the others, and bluff with them more easily.

Alec also didn’t want the older one to be able to keep influencing the younger one. He couldn’t stop himself from believing the kid had no idea about the truth behind the Circle, and he would do his best to convince Jia and Imogen of that.

He was about to send Izzy away to the infirmary, when Maryse appeared beside her, grabbing her bloody arm, searching for injuries.

“Are you hurt?” Maryse demanded.

“They cut me, but I’m alright now, mom,” Izzy said, rolling her eyes fondly.

“Straight to the infirmary,” Maryse ordered firmly, ignoring Izzy’s claim of being fine. “We don’t know if they are using anything in their blades, this is Valentine we are talking about, we can never be too careful.”

“Do you think they can be poisoning their blades?” Alec questioned worriedly. He hadn’t considered that before.

“It happened in the past,” Maryse affirmed, still checking Izzy for more wounds. “You should take a charcoal elixir to flush your system, just to be sure,” she recommended, gesturing for Izzy to leave.

“I’ll collect my blood first,” Izzy said thoughtfully, already walking away. “If you are right, it’s better if we know what they are using.”

“And you can go with her,” Alec said to Clary, who was still standing beside him, holding the box they took from her bedroom with such a strong grip that her knuckles were white. “Tell Hodge to check you for a concussion.”

“I assume that’s not the Mortal Cup,” Maryse said, gesturing to the box as Clary walked away.

“Looks like baby stuff her mother kept from Alicante,” Alec said with indifference. “Other than capturing those four, we didn’t get any new information from the apartment.”

Alec was already walking away, when Maryse grabbed his arm to stop him. “There is something else, Alec,” she said seriously. “One Lydia Branwell, from the Inquisitor’s office is here to see you.”

“Imogen sent someone?” Alec questioned, frowning. Maryse nodded, exchanging a meaningful look with him. “Where is she?”

“Unpacking,” Maryse said with forced lightness, tilting her head a bit in the direction of the residential wing. 

“She came to stay,” Alec exhaled sharply. That couldn’t be good.

“Exactly,” Maryse nodded.

That hadn’t been discussed on his last call with the Inquisitor, and it was not usual for the Clave to send people to Institutes without informing the Head first. Alec had to wonder if this was some kind of sign that the Clave didn’t trust his judgement when it came to the Circle, maybe because of his parents, or because they realized Magnus was more involved in the Clary situation than Alec had informed them. There was no way Alec could know for sure, and he hated not knowing.

He considered everything that had been going on in the Institute for the past few days for a moment. Alec believed he had a good grasp on the situation, and he had kept the Clave informed every step of the way, he couldn’t see any reason for them to send someone now.

“I’ll inform the Clave of today’s arrest,” he said thoughtfully. “Show them that we are making progress.”

“Don’t confront them about this Lydia,” Maryse advised promptly.

Alec nodded. “Send her to my office when she’s done unpacking,” he requested, before leaving her.

He wanted to send in his report before this Lydia got to his office, but he went by his old room and took a quick shower to get rid of the blood and the sweat first, it wouldn’t look good for him to meet someone from the Clave in that state.

Alec was brief and to the point on his arrest report. Whatever it was Lydia was doing there, he certainly didn’t want her to have anyway to claim she had been part of the arrest. But he couldn’t stop himself from adding a special request in the end for the kid to have a chance at rehabilitation. He knew it was up to the Inquisitor to grant that request or not, but Imogen was a fair person, and he was sure she would see the same as he did on the kid.

As he was hitting send on his report, someone knocked on his door, he gave it a couple of seconds before calling the person in to establish dominance over the situation, something else he had learned from his parents.

A blond woman in a pantsuit and high ponytail walked in, Alec vaguely remembered her being at his wedding and other Clave meetings he had been a part of ever since, but they had never formally met. “Hello, Mr Lightwood,” she said, extending a hand for him to shake. “I’m Lydia Branwell, from the Inquisitor’s office.”

“And what can I do for you today, Ms Branwell?” Alec questioned after shaking her hand, gesturing for her to sit.

“Inquisitor Herondale believes it’s best to have someone with inquisitorial authority here to assist you with the Circle investigation,” Lydia said in a incisive manner.

“No one informed me of your arrival, you’ll have to understand my reluctance in believing this is the only reason you are here,” Alec said evenly, raising an eyebrow to her.

“Of course,” she said with a curt nod. “I understand your position. I’m only here to help make things more efficient.”

“Help things in what capacity exactly?” Alec questioned seriously. “Is the Clave taking over my Institute?”

“No, no, Inquisitor Herondale trusts your judgement,” Lydia said quickly, looking startled, and gesturing with her hands in front of her. After a few seconds, she sighed. “May I be honest with you?”

“By all means,” Alec said, gesturing for her to go ahead.

“With the Circle concentrated here, both Consul Penhallow and Inquisitor Herondale have their attention in New York, and being here is a massive opportunity for me,” Lydia said candidly. “My permanence here was a last moment decision, at first I was only supposed to interrogate the Morgenstern girl and go back to the Inquisitor’s office. But I asked to come in a more permanent position and the Inquisitor granted my request.”

Alec looked at her skeptically. “Are you aiming for my job?”

“Your job is not in jeopardy, Mr Lightwood, not at all,” she said without hesitation. “But I know Consul Penhallow is not pleased with some Heads of Institutes that are still having trouble following the Alliance, if I manage to prove my worth here, helping you with the Circle investigation, they may see me as a strong contender for those positions.”

“I see,” Alec said, nodding thoughtfully.

The Circle investigation was high profile, it could give her career a lot of traction if she played her cards right, still, it was a roundabout way towards Head of Institute, it wasn’t something people would normally do. Unless there was a reason she couldn’t go after the job in a usual way. 

“You are not married, are you?”

“I—” she hesitated, staring into his eyes for a moment. “You are going to find out anyway,” she sighed. “I married the love of my life, John Monteverde, together we were going to run the Lisbon Institute, and then— John was killed.” She swallowed, before continuing; “Everything was ripped away. My love, my dream job, everything.”

“Lydia, I— I’m sorry for your loss,” Alec said sincerely. He couldn’t even imagine how hard it must be to lose everything like that.

She nodded stiffly, then exhaled, straightening herself on the chair. “But now there is a chance I can get at least my dream job back,” she said with conviction. “Since you became Head of the New York Institute on your own, the Clave has been changing some directives, and I wouldn’t need to be married in order to be Head of an Institute too, but first I’ll have to prove my worth to them.”

“By capturing Valentine or getting the Mortal Cup back,” Alec stated, tilting his head and raising an eyebrow.

“As long as it’s alright with you for me to stay, of course, I don’t want to step on anyone’s toes.”

“You can stay,” Alec said, nodding.

“Good,” she sighed. “The first thing I would like to do is interrogate the Morgenstern girl. So, where is she?”

“I don’t think she has any information on Valentine, she didn’t seem to know anything about him before coming here.”

“If not on Valentine, maybe at least something on the location of the Cup?”

“She remembered a box her mother kept hidden, but it was a dead end,” Alec told her. “But it at least lead us to capture four Circle members.” Lydia widened her eyes in interest. “They are downstairs waiting interrogation right now, maybe you would like to start with them?”

“That would be ideal,” Lydia said earnestly. “Thank you so much, Mr Lightwood.”

“You can call me Alec,” he said with a half-smile.

They were about to leave the office, when someone knocked hastily, and Alec opened the door immediately. Alison was there, still covered in blood and panting for air. Something was obviously wrong.

“Alison, what happened?” Alec questioned hurriedly.

“Sir,” Alison said breathlessly. “One of the prisoners is dead.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First things first, I didn’t expect to take so long to post this chapter. It was halfway done when we had a death in the family and everything had to be put away for a while. When I was able to come back, I was still not in the right mood to write, so I spent the past week going through the whole series, fixing some spelling mistakes I found here and there, and polishing it up a bit, nothing much, but enough to help me get my inspiration back after the sadness and mourning I went through the week before. Anyway, that’s over now. I hope you all are still around reading this, and that you liked this chapter!


	11. Chapter 11

“What?” Alec asked, raising his eyebrows in shock. “Which one?” He questioned in his commanding tone, and gestured for Alison and Lydia to follow him to the containment cells.

“The older one,” Alison answered promptly, running a bit to keep up with his pace.

“What happened?”

“Andrew put him alone in the cell, as you told us to, and released him from the Immobility Rune,” she explained hushedly. “Then all of a sudden, he was drooling blood, we tried to get to him, but he was already dead.”

It couldn’t be some wound from the battle, it happened too quickly for it, and Underhill and his team never left the containment cells, so there was no chance someone else had gone inside the cell and done something to him. There was only one thing Alec could think of that would make sense with the timeline.

“He killed himself,” Alec grunted, walking into the elevator and pressing the button for the containment cells floor.

_ How committed someone had to be to kill themselves for a cause? _ Alec wondered with concern. For all they knew, the others could have already taken whatever the older one took and were about to die too. Alec looked at the numbers changing on the elevator display, willing it to go faster.

“He must have had some kind of poison with him,” Lydia said in agreement after a couple of seconds. “We should search the other three for something similar, we need them alive.”

The elevator opened, and Alec saw Underhill, Jace and Raj, guarding the occupied cells and watching the three remaining Circle members attentively.

“Check them for anything that could hide some kind of poison,” Alec ordered the moment they walked out of the elevator.

“It can be a container with powder, or some kind of pill, or even a thumbtack hidden somewhere with poison on the tip,” Lydia informed them beside Alec, just as Underhill, Raj and Alison entered the cells, and Jace walked towards them.

“Don’t touch it with your bare hands if you find it,” Alec advised loudly, crossing the room towards the containment cell where the dead Circle member was.

“Who is this?” Jace questioned, narrowing his eyes to Lydia.

“Lydia Branwell, she works for Imogen, and will work with us for a while” Alec introduced, stopping in front of the cell. “And this is Jace Herondale, my  _ parabatai  _ and second in command.”

Lydia shook his hand while Alec opened the cell. Jace was about to question her presence there, but Alec shook his head slightly, gesturing that they could talk about it later.

They entered the cell, and Alec crouched beside the body with Lydia, while Jace leaned against the wall, watching Lydia suspiciously.

There was blood covering the dead Circle member’s mouth, chin and chest, as if he had vomited it right before he died, and his limbs were contorted and bent in weird angles. But that wasn’t the weirdest part of it; his skin was grayish, he was bloated, and the smell of rotting corpse was making Alec nauseous. If Alec hadn’t seen the Circle member alive less than an hour ago, he would have thought he was dead for days, instead of the mere minutes it took Alison to go upstairs and inform Alec of what happened.

“Accelerated decomposition,” Lydia said under her breath, and Alec nodded in agreement.

“Help me look for puncture wounds or cuts,” he said, searching every uncovered part of the body without touching it with his bare skin, per protocol. “My mother said the Circle used poisoned blades in the past, he may have cut himself with his own blade during the fight.”

If that was the case, Alec would have to call Magnus to check on Izzy as quickly as possible, even if she took the charcoal elixir as their mother instructed, Alec couldn’t risk it.

“It doesn’t look like it,” Lydia said, tilting her head to check the neck. “But you are right, we can’t ever be too careful with things—”

“Alec,” Jace called, interrupting Lydia, and when Alec turned to him, he gestured to the glass wall, where they could see Underhill waiting for them, holding something on his gloved hand.

Alec and Lydia stood up and left the cell with Jace close behind them, still staring at Lydia with open suspicion.

“It was sewed in the hem of their jackets,” Underhill said, showing three capsules on his gloved hand. “The blond one was cooperative while we were searching him,” he told Alec. “I think he may be more willing to talk than the other two.”

“Thank you, Andrew,” Alec said, nodding, before taking a handkerchief from his jetted pocket, and wrapping the pills in it.

Jace snickered, raising an eyebrow to the handkerchief questioningly.

“Magnus,” Alec murmured as an explanation. Then he looked at Underhill, Raj and Alison, they were still covered in blood from the fight earlier, and so was Jace. “Andrew, send my father’s team to guard the prisoners and someone to take the body to the Lab, then the three of you are dismissed for the day.”

“Thank you, sir,” Underhill said with a brief nod, calling Alison and Raj to follow him.

“We should send those to the Alicante Lab,” Lydia said, gesturing to the capsules on Alec’s hand once Underhill and his team were gone. “We need to learn everything we can about it, and check their weapons to see if they are really using some kind of poison on them.”

“There were a lot of  _ we _ in there for someone who just showed up here,” Jace murmured under his breath, making Alec elbow him in the ribs.

“I can arrange for someone to come pick it up if you want,” Lydia said impassively. Alec was not sure if she didn’t hear Jace’s comment or was just ignoring it. “And they can take the body too, we should study the effect of what’s inside these capsules as much as we can.”

“No need,” Alec replied promptly. “Our forensic pathologist is more than qualified to handle it. She’s is up to date with all Mundane technology as well as anything Shadow World related, she even gives seminars to the Alicante techs.”

“Oh, I didn’t know that,” Lydia said, tilting her head questioningly.

“My sister,” Alec said with a proud smile, putting the capsules wrapped on the handkerchief in his pocket. “I’ll ask her to examine everything once she’s out of the infirmary.”

Lydia nodded, and picked a tablet from her pocket, making Jace narrow his eyes and look at Alec questioningly. “We should start trying to identify them,” she said, logging into the system. Then she glanced at Jace and added; “Don’t worry, I can’t access your Institute’s files, I’m only connected to the Inquisitor’s system.”

“The Inquisitor’s system overviews all the Institutes,” Jace pointed out dubiously.

“Only open case files and the staff list,” Lydia answered without paying Jace much attention. “I would need Inquisitor Herondale’s password to access anything else, or Alec’s.”

She tapped something on her tablet and approached one of the cells, taking pictures of the prisoner inside as the elevator door opened, and Robert walked out with his team, Maryse and Izzy’s lab assistants.

“Underhill said one of the prisoners is dead,” Robert said, looking at Alec questioningly.

Jace gestured to where the dead Circle member was, and accompanied Robert and the lab assistants into the cell.

“I want the prisoners under constant supervision,” Alec ordered his father’s team, and when they nodded and took position in front of the occupied cells, he turned to his mother. “Is Izzy alright?” He asked as she walked towards him and gave him his tablet.

“It doesn’t look like their blades were laced with poison, but Izzy found silver powder particles around the site of the wound,” Maryse said seriously. “She is already in the lab analyzing her blood and their weapons for anything else.”

“We should inform the Werewolf packs about the silver powder,” Alec said worriedly. If the Circle was lacing their weapons with silver powder they could have plans to go after Werewolves.

“We should inform the Vampires as well,” Maryse replied thoughtfully. “We have no way of knowing if they are lacing their weapons with holy water too, it’s better to warn them to be cautious.”

Alec nodded; “Would you send them a memo for me?” He requested, and his mother nodded.

“Do you have any idea on how he died?” Robert questioned, coming closer to Alec and Maryse while the lab techs carried the body out of the cell to a stretcher.

“We found capsules with the other three, we believe he killed himself,” Alec said, staring at his parents attentively. “You knew him, didn’t you?”

Robert nodded. “George Bridgestock. He ran away during the Uprising.”

“Right,” Alec exhaled sharply, it was never pleasant to remember the things his parents did back then, but with everything that was going on, he was being confronted with that reality more and more often. “Should we expect this from everyone we capture?” He questioned, gesturing to the body with his head.

“Some of them, yes, but even back then, we would never resort to that,” Robert said, pointing to himself and Maryse.

“It depends a lot on how involved with the Circle they are,” Maryse said, nodding in agreement. “I’m not surprised he killed himself like that, Valentine always had too much influence over him.”

Robert agreed. “We had you and each other to worry about, George only had the mission.”

Alec stared at his parents for a couple of moments, trying to grasp what exactly they meant, before he caught Lydia and Jace approaching them from the corner of his eye, and saw the lab assistants about to enter the elevator. 

“Alright, give these to Izzy for me, please,” he said, giving his mother the capsules wrapped in his handkerchief, she agreed and walked away, entering the elevator with the lab assistants, then Alec turned to his father; “We’ll interrogate the other three now, but I want them in constant supervision, no one other than us should be anywhere near them.”

Robert nodded, excusing himself and taking position in front of the last cell, the one where the younger Circle member was.

“Is that really the wisest choice in this case, Alec?” Lydia questioned, following Robert with her eyes.

“I trust them,” Alec replied with conviction, and Jace nodded emphatically in agreement. “They told me the dead one is George Bridgestock.”

Lydia hummed, tapping something on her tablet, before she nodded. “Yes, he is one of the Circle members who escaped prosecution after the Uprising. I ran the other three through our face recognition software, there were no matches for the kid, but the other two are Kenneth Atwater from the Chicago Institute and Min-Jun Lee from the South Korea Institute,” she said, opening their files on her tablet and showing it to Alec.

Kenneth Atwater was the one Underhill thought would be more cooperative, the Chicago Institute had declared him missing in action almost a year ago. And Min-Jun Lee had also been declared missing in action, eighteen months ago. They both had been reprimanded for excessive use of force against Downworlders before the Alliance, and their colleagues reported their continuous disregard for the Alliance after it was signed.

“They are exactly the type of people that would leave the Clave to follow Valentine,” Jace said, reading the files over Alec’s shoulder. “Isn’t that what the kid said they should be trying to do with us?”

Alec sighed and nodded. “I’d rather not interrogate him if the others give us enough information,” he said to Lydia after a moment, gesturing to the last cell with his head. “He is just a kid.”

“A kid who follows Valentine blindly and would be more than okay with killing Downworlders,” Jace said, looking at Alec weirdly.

“A kid who probably never had anyone other than Valentine and other Circle members to teach him right from wrong, who was probably brainwashed since birth to believe in what the Circle preaches,” Alec retorted. “But still, just a kid. We can teach him better, make him see how wrong Valentine is.”

“Either way,” Lydia interrupted before Jace could say anything else. “That’s up to the Inquisitor, not to us.”

“I’m aware,” Alec replied. “And I already sent Imogen a request to get the kid to rehabilitation, I’m just saying we should interrogate the others first and see if we can skip on the kid until the Inquisitor decides about him.”

Lydia stared at Alec for a moment, before nodding slowly. “I’m sure the other two can give us enough information.”

Alec really hoped so. It didn’t feel right for him to interrogate a kid, even keeping the boy in the containment cell gave Alec a bad feeling, but he knew there wasn’t anywhere else he could safely keep him until the Inquisitor responded to his request.

“You should go take a break and eat something while we interrogate them,” Alec said to Jace, glancing at the blood on his arms.

“You didn’t eat anything today either,” Jace pointed out, raising a challenging eyebrow to Alec.

“Exactly,” Alec snorted. “At least one of us should be well-fed if we need to go solve something after the interrogation.”

Jace rolled his eyes to Alec, but went upstairs anyway.

“He is not what I expected,” Lydia commented as Alec gestured for them to go to the first cell.

“What do you mean?”

“Inquisitor Herondale talks about him a lot,” Lydia said distractedly. “I thought he would be some kind of hardened head-strong soldier, not someone who worries if you are feeding yourself.”

“He is both,” Alec stated surely, opening the cell door for her.

Their first interrogation was a bust. Min-Jun Lee absolutely refused to talk, and there was nothing Lydia and Alec could do to convince him otherwise, not even the threat to send him to the Silent City to be interrogated under the Soul-Sword had an effect on him.

As Underhill suggested, Kenneth Atwater was more willing to talk. He seemed scared, keeping his eyes fixed on the glass wall of the cell the whole time, as if he expected something bad to happen, but he quickly gave away information as soon as Alec pressed a little.

“He— Valentine— he ordered us to go to the apartment this morning, he knew the girl would be there, I don’t know how he knew, he just said she would be there,” Atwater rambled nervously. “We were supposed to take the girl back with us, and anything she had with her. But he was sure she would be alone. He said something else to Bridgestock before we left, but I don’t know what it was, he didn’t tell us.”

“And where were you supposed to take her?” Alec questioned, observing Atwater attentively. “Where’s your base?”

“There is an abandoned brick factory in New Jersey, it’s not too far away from here, maybe an hour or so away,” Atwater told them warily. “He has a lab there, he keeps prisoners and makes experiments, I— I didn’t—” He shook his head brusquely and stopped talking.

Alec thought he was giving away information way too easily. Atwater had been the one who tried to call for help when Alec, Izzy and Jace confronted them in Clary’s apartment, he had fought violently the whole time, and hadn’t surrendered. It was really weird that he was simply telling them everything they wanted to know now.

“Why are you telling us this?” Alec questioned, frowning suspiciously.

“I don’t want to die,” Atwater answered with a trembly voice, raising his eyes to stare into Alec’s.

“We won’t kill you,” Lydia said with honesty. “The Clave doesn’t kill people without trial, unless it’s a battle situation.”

“I know you won’t,” Atwater murmured, then shuddered. “But he will. If I go back now, he’ll kill me.” Alec was sure he could only mean Valentine. “If captured we are supposed to take the pill at the first chance we have, I had a chance, but I didn’t take the pill. I didn’t want to die. I don’t want to die.”

Lydia kept questioning him, asking for names and addresses, anything he could give them, while Alec watched, thinking about the things he had already said. Robert was right, Valentine was doing experiments again, and they had no way of knowing how far he had gone. And the prisoners Atwater mentioned could be the missing Warlocks.

“Is Bridgestock dead?” Atwater asked when Lydia and Alec were about to leave.

“He is,” Alec confirmed, watching his reaction.

“And the others?”

“They didn’t take the pill either,” Alec replied, and Atwater sighed in what looked like relief, before nodding jerkily.

“What do you think?” Lydia asked as soon as they were out of the cell.

“I think we should take as many Shadowhunters as we can to this factory as quickly as possible,” Alec said promptly. “Before someone notices they are taking too long to go back.”

“I agree,” Lydia said firmly, and they strode to the elevator together, discussing mission tactics.

Lydia went straight to her room to change clothes, while Alec filled a mission form and summoned everyone available to come with them. Maryse showed up in his office and placed a plate in front of him, shortly after he sat down at his desk.

“Jace told me you didn’t eat today,” she said in a reprimanding tone, gesturing for him to eat.

“Didn’t have much time,” Alec replied, filling in forms with one hand and eating with the other. “I’ll need you to keep an eye on the girl again,” he said distractedly.

“What about your sister?”

“I want her to finish the autopsy and to analyze the capsules,” he stated thoughtfully.

If they managed to clean up the factory where the Circle was hiding, they would need Izzy to analyze Valentine’s lab, but until then, he wanted her to know as much as possible about the capsules and maybe find some kind of antidote for them. They had no way of knowing if Valentine was using whatever was in the capsules only for the Circle members to kill themselves once captured, or if he was using it for something else.

Alec also had to consider the possibility of finding the missing Warlocks. He knew he should call Magnus and tell him everything that happened that afternoon and the new leads they got, but he didn’t want to put Magnus in risk.

He was mulling it over when his mother left the office, and Jace walked in.

“You are tense and it’s making me nervous,” he said, throwing himself on his usual chair.

“Sorry,” Alec sighed, running his hands through his hair. “Atwater said Valentine has a lab and prisoners in the place we are going.”

“Are you going to call Magnus?” Jace questioned, raising an eyebrow, understanding easily Alec’s conflict.

“You think I should?”

“They took his people, I think he deserves to know we have a lead,” Jace replied rationally. 

“What if he gets hurt?” Alec murmured.

He knew he was not being completely rational, Magnus was more powerful than any Shadowhunter, he could probably fight against multiple people at once without breaking a sweat. But this was his husband they were talking about. All Alec wanted was to protect him.

“What if there are hurt Warlocks there?” Jace retorted. “Will you be able to forgive yourself if we can’t save them because you didn’t call Magnus?”

“You are right,” Alec exhaled deeply. “Of course you are right. I’ll call him,” he said, picking his phone from his pocket immediately.

Jace looked at him questioningly and gestured to the door with his head, clearly asking if he should leave and let Alec talk to Magnus on his own, but Alec shook his head slowly, it was easier to stay focused on the mission when Jace was there with him.

As Alec expected, Magnus insisted on being part of the mission. There was no way he would stay behind when there was a chance they could find the missing Warlocks. Alec couldn’t stop himself from worrying, but he would have to shove it down and focus on the mission.

“Magnus will be here in a few minutes,” he told Jace, pocketing his phone and standing up, ready to go.

“What about Clary?” Jace asked, following him out of the office.

“Mom will keep an eye on her while we are away. There is absolutely no chance I’ll allow someone untrained to go on a raid into enemy territory,” Alec said firmly, leaving no run for arguments. “And you better not try to convince me otherwise, or I’ll leave you here too.”

“No, you are right,” Jace agreed, raising his arms in a sign of surrender. “It’s not a good idea to take her with us.”

There were about twenty Shadowhunters ready to leave in the command center, just waiting for Alec’s instructions. He paused on the top of the stairs overviewing the command center and got himself into Head of the Institute mode, trying to get everything else out of his mind. They had a job to do now.

“The Circle’s hiding place is outside our jurisdiction, but as you know, the Trenton Institute doesn’t have enough personnel for a raid of this size and importance," he heard some of the hunters snickering and snorting, but he ignored them and kept going with the instructions. “They agreed to let us take command over the situation. Magnus will portal us over from the back courtyard to their Institute, and from there we will go to the location,” Alec said in his best commanding tone. “According to our source the Circle keeps prisoners and a lab in this location. I want all of you to be extra careful around any prisoners, and no one should touch any unknown substances.”

“Yes, sir,” most of them responded as Alec walked down the stairs.

Lydia was waiting for him on the bottom of the stairs. “Oh, Mr Bane is coming with us?” She asked, raising her eyebrows with interest, falling into step with him towards the back exit, where Magnus was probably already waiting.

“There are Warlocks missing that we believe were captured by the Circle,” Alec said as an explanation, then he narrowed his eyes and questioned; “Is that a problem for you?”

“No, absolutely no problem,” Lydia stated, opening a smile for the first time since her arrival. “I actually can’t wait to properly meet him,” she chuckled. “Did you know that my great ancestor, Henry Branwell, who was the last of the Branwells to run an Institute, and Mr Bane invented the portal?”

“I didn’t know,” Alec replied with a half-smile, surprised to see her eyes shining over the prospect of meeting his husband. “Didn’t you meet him at my wedding?”

“Yes, but I couldn’t really talk to him then,” Lydia explained, gesturing with her hands. “It was a formal function and I was just an assistant.”

Before Alec could say anything else, Clary appeared by his side with Jace and Maryse close behind her, coming from the middle of the Shadowhunters leaving the Institute.

“I want to go with you!” Clary said resolutely, and Jace rolled his eyes.

“No,” Alec said impassively, opening the back door and walking out with Lydia and Jace.

“But my mom can be there!” Clary said, stomping her foot behind him.

“No,” Alec repeated without giving her any attention.

Maryse stopped Clary from following them, and Lydia raised an eyebrow in Clary’s direction, giving Alec a questioning glance, but he just shook his head, already focused on Magnus, who was waiting for him in the middle of the courtyard.

Alec couldn’t stop himself from smiling upon seeing his husband in what Magnus considered battle gear; black skinny pants, shiny combat boots, buttoned up dark green military jacket and fingerless black leather gloves. He looked gorgeous as always. Alec strode towards him and kissed him hard on the mouth, without a moment of hesitation.

“Ready to go?” Magnus murmured when their lips parted.

“Yeah,” Alec answered in the same tone, before stepping away from Magnus and turning to the exit, getting himself back into command mode.

Lydia and Jace were a few steps behind him, and the others were still getting through the door.

“This is Lydia Branwell, from the Inquisitor’s office, she is going to stay with us for a while,” he said, introducing her to Magnus.

“Mr Bane, it’s so nice to meet you,” Lydia said, stepping ahead and shaking Magnus’ hand enthusiastically.

Magnus quirked an eyebrow, and glanced at Alec questioningly, probably wondering why Lydia was in the Institute and if there was something else going on, much like Alec himself had wondered when Maryse told him about her arrival.

“She told me how one of her ancestors helped you invent the portal,” Alec said, prompting Magnus to say something.

“Oh, Henry of course, he was a good one,” Magnus said, giving Lydia a sincere smile. “Truly a man ahead of his time, always more interested in developing new technologies then in the hunting part of your business,” he chuckled. “And better than inventing the portal, I have to thank Henry for giving me something much more important,” he made a dramatic pause, gesturing to the make up on his eyes, “glitter!”

Alec and Jace laughed loudly, while Lydia just stared at Magnus dumbfounded for a moment. “Glitter,” she repeated, tilting her head.

“Oh, yes,” Magnus said lightly. “He gave me a batch shortly after we met, and as you can see, I never stopped shining ever since.”

He smiled brightly, and Lydia just kept staring at him without reaction.

“Right,” Alec spoke up, gesturing for all the Shadowhunters who were waiting around them to come closer. “Now the mission,” he said giving Magnus a meaningful look.

“Now the mission,” Magnus repeated, sobering up, making the movement to open a portal with his hand.


	12. Chapter 12

The abandoned factory gave Alec an eerie feeling the moment they walked through the gates. It wasn’t just the overgrown weeds hiding the entrance, the faded graffiti and mold covering the walls, or the fact they couldn’t see much into the shadowy ruins under the cover of the night; what Alec felt was almost like a force trying to push them away. They took another step forwards, and Alec felt an uncomfortable tingle on the back of his neck, he knew that feeling, he even remembered the first time he came upon it, two years ago, in Iris Rouse’s house, it was the feeling of unfamiliar hostile magic.

He turned to Magnus, giving him a questioningly look, if Alec could feel it, Magnus certainly could.

“There were Warlock wards here,” Magnus murmured to him, Jace and Lydia. “Someone dropped them recently, maybe a couple of minutes ago.”

That didn’t make much sense. Alec couldn’t believe a Warlock would ever ward a place for Valentine and the Circle. Not even the Warlocks Magnus would classify as selfish would do something like that, it would take someone plain stupid to help someone who intended to aniquilate all the Downworlders from their realm, even for payment.

And from all Alec knew, Valentine was not the type to request a Warlock’s service, no, he didn’t respect Downworlders at all, he wouldn’t pay for one to ward his hiding place. They knew Valentine used Demons to do his dirty work, but Alec was sure the only reason for that was because Valentine knew he could dispose of the Demons easily enough, as Jace had said, Demons rarely survived long enough to collect, Warlocks in the other hand tended to demand payment upfront and establish guarantees.

No, Alec couldn’t believe that. Valentine had to have done something to force a Warlock to ward the factory.

From Magnus’ worried frown, he had to be thinking the same.

Alec gestured for the Shadowhunters behind them to surround the building, they had planned to storm in all at the same time. Jace checked his watch and showed Alec five fingers, before starting the countdown.

He had his bow ready to shoot at anything that moved in the shadows, Jace and Lydia had their seraph blades in fight position, and Magnus’ hands were crackling with red magic, the moment Jace closed his hand into a fist, they breached the front entrance, just as the rest of the team rushed in from the other side.

And found no one in there.

The only sound they could hear was their own people moving into the building, but even in the dark, they could tell there were no Circle members there.

Alec screamed in frustration at the same time as Jace punched a wall and Magnus used his magic to illuminate their surroundings.

It was like whoever was there left in a hurry. There was half-eaten food on a table and the chairs were pushed away or lying on the floor, a water barrel by the wall was full of paper, and there were even a couple of seraph blades thrown in a corner, it didn’t look like whoever was there planned to leave.

“These are ruined, I don’t think we can recover anything,” Lydia said, using her seraph blade to fish one of the papers from the barrel.

“This food is still hot,” Jace pointed out, picking up a plate, then he threw it across the room. “They knew we were coming,” he said through his teeth.

“How?” Alec grunted, kicking a chair on the floor, it didn’t make any sense, how could they know when to run away? “Is there any wards that would warn them that we were approaching?” He asked Magnus.

“We didn’t trigger any wards,” Magnus said seriously, before moving his hands around, weaving his magic. “There are some residual magic around here,” he said, moving through the room. “It feels like the remains of a portal, it’s really recent, just a few minutes before we got here.”

Magnus continued to search for magical remains around the room, murmuring spells under his breath, while Alec ordered the other Shadowhunters to search the building for clues, anything that could give them an idea on how the Circle knew they were coming or where they went.

There was no way Valentine had just guessed they were coming, they had decided to act as soon as they got the information, it hadn’t been enough time for Valentine to suspect the people he sent after Clary had been captured.

“I can find regular wards and a portal, but no other signs of magic anywhere,” Magnus said after a while.

“There are Blocking Runes on all the walls outside,” Carlton said, walking back into the building just as Jace’s voice called for Alec and Magnus from the other room.

While the first room looked like a breakroom, this one was closer to a lab. There was a rusty old boiler still alight in a corner, rusty cages lining the walls, and tables full of jars, test tubes and powders. All the Shadowhunters in the space were keeping a safe distance from the tables, and Alec saw that most of them were wearing their leather gloves as they opened and inspected the cages.

Jace was in the middle of everything, staring at one of the tables with his lips curled, Alec and Magnus crossed the room towards him, and Magnus gasped when their eyes focused on what Jace was looking at.

The table had several jars with dark and viscous looking concoctions, Alec was almost sure one was filled with blood and another with ichor, and beside that he saw what exactly had caught Jace’s attention; a pair of red horns and a jar with two black orbs floating in a clear liquid.

Bile rose in Alec’s throat as he realized those were Warlock Marks, and something cold and dark gripped his chest when he looked into the black orbs and his mind conjured cat-eyes in its place.

Alec swallowed hard and glanced at Magnus by his side. If Alec and Jace were horrified by what they were seeing, it was nothing compared to the pain and fury in Magnus’ eyes.

“Do you know, Alexander,” Magnus said evenly, staring at the jar with the black eyeballs without blinking, “how the richest Shadowhunter families acquired their fortunes?”

Alec shook his head slowly, and by his side, Jace did the same.

“They stole it,” Magnus said in a hard voice that commanded everyone in the room to stop and listen. “They incriminated Warlocks for crimes that had nothing to do with us, and then they killed the Warlocks to take their fortunes as spoils-of-war.”

“But that was before the Accords—” Jace said hesitantly.

“Before the Accords,” Magnus snorted derisively. “Yes, before the Accords, when Shadowhunters hunted Vampires and Werewolves for sport, but not Warlocks, you know, they hunted Warlocks for the riches; because killing Warlocks is so much more difficult than killing Werewolves and Vampires, and because it gave them the appearance of wealth and dexterity, they kept the Warlock Marks in display, it made the other Shadowhunters know how strong and powerful they were to have several Warlock Marks in their parlours.”

The tension in the room was suffocating, and Alec was sure, even without checking, that everyone there was frozen in place, listening to Magnus.

“But the Accords,” Magnus chuckled darkly. “The Accords didn’t change much, the old families were still allowed to keep their little keepsakes from the past, they were antiques afterall,” he said in a faked light tone. “And no one was watching, no one cared enough to watch, so Shadowhunters just kept adding to their collections under the guise of fake crimes that were never commited.”

Magnus’ hands trembled as he picked up the horns from the table and involved them with his magic.

“You can probably still find some, Alexander,” he continued, “in your family home back in Idris, there is probably someone’s eyes there, maybe ears, horns, a patch of skin,” Magnus exhaled sharply. “There was even a whole severed Warlock head in a room in the Shadowhunter Academy, back in the good old days. Ragnor told me they put him in that room while he was teaching there, if you can believe that, and the dean had the audacity to ask Ragnor if he was acquaintant with the deceased Warlock.”

He made a longer pause, staring at the horns with torment in his eyes.

“Magnus,” Alec murmured carefully, extending a hand to touch Magnus’ arm.

“Elias,” Magnus sighed painfully. “I saw him just a few days ago, he went into hiding with the rest of us, but he left to go help Tessa and Sophia at the Spiral Labyrinth, he never made it there.” He moved his hands, and the horns disappeared, Alec knew Magnus had probably sent the horns back home to dispose of them properly later. Then he picked up the jar with the black eyeballs. “Aria,” he said and his voice almost faltered. “She was almost a thousand years old, it has been a number of years since we last saw each other, but she had been planning a banger party for her first millennia.” He weaved his magic again, and the jar with the eyes disappeared. “These were my friends, but even if they weren’t—” he shook his head slowly, closing his eyes for a second. “No Warlock would place wards on this place under their own volition, Alexander.”

Alec swallowed dry and nodded stiffly. “We will find him, Magnus, and he will pay for this,” he murmured, before turning around and gesturing for the others to go back to what they were doing.

From the way Magnus talked, Alec was sure he had more than enough first hand experience with it. And once again, he had trouble understanding how his husband could love a Shadowhunter after everything he went through, how the Downworlders could forgive the Shadowhunters and work alongside them after so many years of unjust persecution and disrespect. Alec was not entirely sure the Nephilim would be able to do the same if their roles were reversed.

They worked mostly in silence after that. There were Blocking and Locking Runes all over the cages, and they found more Downworlder remains in another room, where Valentine seemed to be making experiences with silver powder and light beams. But they didn’t find any signs of the missing Seelies scouts, and Alec wondered if they were killed elsewhere, and if that was the case, it was highly likely that Valentine had other hiding places, and that was probably where he had taken everyone who were there not long before they arrived.

Magnus was using his magic to try to find other Warlocks’ magical signatures around the cages, when Lydia came from the other room, where she had been for the whole time, and approached Alec; “It’s safe to assume Valentine has at least one Warlock working for him, if not more,” Lydia said impassively.

“I don’t think that_ working for him _ is the right term here,” Alec interrupted in a slightly rude tone, watching Magnus across the room attentively. “Look at this place,” he said, trying to contain his own anger. “Whoever the Warlock who warded the place and made the portal is, I don’t think they are helping Valentine because they want to.”

“But how would Valentine be able to force a Warlock to do anything?” Lydia questioned rationally, raising her eyebrows to Alec. 

“He has been doing experiences and trying to control Downworlders for years, for all we know he figured out a way to control Warlocks and make them do whatever he wants.”

And for Alec, that was just one more reason to get rid of Valentine as quickly and permanently as he could. He didn’t want anyone to be able to control Magnus, or any other Warlock, for that matter. He was too aware of the fact that some people in the Clave wouldn’t hesitate before using Valentine’s methods to end the Alliance and take control over the Shadow World.

Lydia was still staring at him with narrowed eyes, but he didn’t want to say anything else about the matter; “I want you to pack everything up, every vial and every strand of hair you find, and send it for analysis,” he ordered loudly, so everyone could hear him. “And if you find any other signs of Downworlders, inform me immediately.”

“Yes, sir,” came from all around them, as Alec went back into the first room with Lydia.

It looked like maybe half a dozen people had been eating when they left in a hurry, there were also the four they captured that morning, the one Luke killed in the parking garage, and the one Jace killed in front of the Institute. How many people could the Circle realistically have at this point?

Alec had checked, there were at least twenty unaccounted Circle members from back in the day, they probably had a number of children as well, and raised them in Valentine’s beliefs, and now they knew Valentine had probably been recruiting unhappy Shadowhunters from around the world at least since the Alliance was signed.

It wasn’t unlikely that Valentine had informants inside the Clave, thinking about it, it wasn’t even unlikely that Valentine had moles inside the New York Institute. That surely would explain how Valentine knew they were coming, and even how he knew Clary would be back at her loft in that particular day and time.

Alec looked around, wondering if any of his hunters was actually working for Valentine. Most of them had been in the New York Institute for years, some of them longer than Alec even. It could be any of them, it could be none of them, Alec would have to figure it out.

Whoever it was, Alec couldn’t risk scaring them away, he would have to be careful when trying to uncover the mole, he was only sure he could trust Jace, Izzy and Magnus. It would be too risky to trust anyone else.

When the team was done packing everything they could find in the factory, an hour or so after their arrival, Magnus created a portal for them to go back to the Institute.

“I’ll go home, I can write my report in the morning,” Alec said before Jace entered the portal. “Tell Izzy about everything we found here, and keep an eye on the Institute for me.”

“Sure thing,” Jace said with a short nod, before walking through the portal.

Once everyone was gone, Magnus closed the portal and was about to open another one for them to go home, when Alec placed a hand on his arm. “Is there a way for us to ward this place so you will know if anyone comes back here?” Alec questioned.

“There is,” Magnus said hesitantly, narrowing his eyes to Alec. “Is there a reason you waited until now to ask me about it?”

“I didn’t want anyone other than us to know about it,” Alec explained promptly. “Don’t you find it a little suspicious that they decided to run away minutes before we got here?”

“I find it extremely suspicious,” Magnus nodded.

“I don’t think Valentine will come back here, I don’t think he would be stupid enough to do it, but I don’t want him to know how we are keeping an eye on the place if he thinks about coming back,” Alec said, gesturing with his arms as he explained.

“And you believe someone in the Clave is keeping him informed of all our moves,” Magnus said, nodding, already starting to work his magic in a new ward for the factory.

“I think we may have a mole inside my Institute.”

Magnus paused what he was doing with his hands mid-motion and his magic crackling on his fingers, and turned to Alec. “Do you suspect anyone specific?”

“I—” Alec sighed, shaking his head slowly. “I don’t know, the only thing I know is that it’s not Izzy or Jace, other than that it could be anyone.”

Magnus frowned for a moment, then nodded and got back to the what he was doing.

It was only when they were back home, cuddling on the couch, a couple of hours later, that Magnus said something about it again; “You said the only thing you know is that it’s not Izzy or Jace, you think your parents might be back with Valentine?”

“I— I don’t know— I really don’t know,” Alec replied hesitantly. “They used to believe the same things Valentine preaches, maybe they still do? Maybe they have been faking having changed? I don’t know,” he grunted in frustration, burying his face on Magnus’ neck and inhaling deeply. “And we have to face the facts, they are in perfect position to collect information, they may not be in control of the Institute, but they are both always involved in everything important.”

Magnus nodded slowly, running his hands up and down Alec’s arm. “I don’t spend much time with your father, so I can’t give you an opinion about him, but I feel like your mother’s efforts are genuine.”

Alec sighed, he thought so too, he really believed Maryse and Robert had turned a new leaf, especially after Alec married Magnus, but he couldn’t forget that he used to think his parents were perfect until two years ago, that he had never suspected they could’ve been involved with the Circle, even if there were signs of it all over their lives. They had said so themselves when they told Alec the truth and asked him to offer himself for the Alliance, they still believed Valentine was right when they surrendered to the Clave after the Uprising.

“What I don’t understand is why they stayed with the Clave for all these years,” Alec said after a couple of minutes. “Do you think the other Circle members knew something that my parents didn’t? Maybe Valentine told the others to run away after the Cup was taken and reconvene, but never told my parents? Or do you think they just ran away and found each other after?”

“I don’t know, love,” Magnus said patiently. 

Alec knew that wasn’t something Magnus could clarify for him, but whenever he was confused about something, Magnus always seemed to know how to make it better.

“But even after the Uprising and their surrender to the Clave they still thought Valentine was right, it took them years to start to realise how wrong they were, and I’m not even sure they understand it completely now,” Alec mumbled, nuzzling Magnus hair, trying to find comfort. “But why didn’t they run away with the others? Why would they surrender? You were there, do you— can you tell me why they didn’t go away when the others did?”

“At a certain point, they knew they had no chance of winning, they could only run away or surrender,” Magnus said thoughtfully, scratching the back of Alec’s neck. “I don’t think they even considered running away. I remember your mother was the first to surrender, she dropped her weapons and raised her arms. Your father was still fighting, he asked her what she was doing, and she yelled; ‘Who is going to take care of our son?’, and your father dropped his weapons and stood beside her without thinking twice.”

Alec nodded slowly, he got a warm feeling in his chest, he had always known his parents loved him, but it was different to have it proven like that, to know that they threw away their beliefs for him. “But after the trial they were free, and they admitted that they still held the same beliefs, why not run away then?”

“You would have to ask them, love,” Magnus murmured. “But I’d guess it was for the same reason, they didn’t want to inflict a life of running and hiding on you and Izzy, and then, they had a prestigious position and a whole Institute to run, it probably wasn’t worth it anymore.”

Magnus was probably right, but those reasons wouldn’t stop them from helping Valentine now, especially if they thought Valentine had a chance of winning this and they wanted to be in a good position if it happened. If there was something Alec knew about his parents, it was that they were experts in falling on their feet.

“I just know I can’t trust anyone else, not until I find out how the Circle knew we were coming today,” Alec said tiredly. “I’m sorry,” he sighed. “I know I shouldn’t talk about this at home, but I just don’t know what to do.”

“That rule is for boring Institute talk, this is about your parents, it’s not the same,” Magnus said understandingly, then he raised Alec’s head with a finger and looked into Alec’s eyes for a moment. “How about a nice relaxing bath before we go to bed, hm? I think we need it tonight.”

“Hm-hum,” Alec mumbled, his head was starting to throb, and he was more than happy to leave everything else behind for a little while.


	13. Chapter 13

Alec couldn’t stop thinking about the mole for the rest of night, he barely slept, even Magnus’ attempt at helping him relax didn’t work for too long, once Magnus fell asleep, Alec’s mind went right back to thinking about who the mole could be.

There were two times he was sure someone had to have leaked information to the Circle, and in one of those cases, only someone from the New York Institute could have done it. While everyone from the Clave and other Institutes knew they had captured some Circle members and were planning a big raid for that night, only someone from his Institute could have informed Valentine that Clary would be at her apartment that morning, there hadn’t even been enough time for the information to go through the Clave’s rumor mill before Alec got there and stopped Clary from leaving alone.

Alec was still suspicious of the timing of events, the fact that Clary appeared in their lives just as the Circle ressurged didn’t sit right with him, but he didn’t think she was working for Valentine, it wouldn’t make sense if Valentine’s objective really was to find the Mortal Cup. Either way, he still thought there was something wrong there.

Or maybe he was just being over cautious, it wouldn’t be the first time. Alec sighed, punching his pillow and turning on the bed to hug Magnus.

A sense of restlessness surrounded the Institute when Alec got there a few hours later. It was clear that even the Shadowhunters who hadn’t been in last night’s mission already knew everything about it. Information always travelled fast within the Clave, that made the mole’s job easier, and Alec’s so much harder.

He felt awful as he crossed the command center towards his office looking at everyone with suspicion, but the worst part was the freezing feeling in his stomach when his mother appeared by his side to give him his tablet and inform him of everything that happened in the Institute during his absence.

_ It couldn’t be her_, he thought to himself forcefully, not after everything she did to make the Alliance happen and save their family, she couldn’t be betraying them like that, Alec knew his mother, he trusted his mother. But even as he thought that, a little voice in the back of his mind made sure to remind him of all the things she did in the past, he couldn’t be a hundred percent sure about her, he would never be able to.

His mind went through every single one of his Shadowhunters, he even considered people who asked to be relocated after the Alliance went into effect but still had ties with his people, but no matter where his mind went, his parents just kept coming back to the top of the list. Alec wasn’t sure how he would be able to track down the mole, but he was certain he couldn’t allow any information regarding the Mortal Cup to get out.

He threw himself on his chair and ran a hand through his hair, his day hadn’t even started yet and his head was already in a turmoil.

Alec’s report on last night’s mission was short and to the point, he didn’t think it was a good idea to mention his suspicions in it, he couldn’t risk his report going through the chain of command when he was not sure who he could trust within the Council. He knew he would have to inform them about it eventually, but he would have to gather concrete information first.

Someone knocked on his door a couple of hours later as he was going through other Institutes’ logs trying to find any signs of where Valentine could have taken the Circle last night.

Alec called whoever it was to come in, and Lydia opened the door with her tablet in hand and a ready for business posture. “Good morning, Alec.” 

He nodded and gestured for her to sit on the chair in front of him. He wasn’t entirely sure about her yet, honestly, he wasn’t sure about anyone right now. And she saying that Warlocks could be working for Valentine last night hadn’t helped improve his opinion of her. But he had enough experience with the Clave to know that he should at least give her a chance before discarding her completely.

“I had a call with the Inquisitor this morning,” Lydia said, going straight to business as Alec had noticed was her usual manner. “She instructed me to coordinate the prisoners’ transfer with you. She also asked me to inform you that she acceded to your request to send the younger one to Alicante for rehabilitation.”

“Good,” Alec said with a small smile. He didn’t quite understand why seeing the kid working for Valentine had affected him so much, but knowing that the boy would have a chance to learn eased his mind. “And the other two?”

“Their former Institutes and families were informed of their dissidence, and they are being expected at the Silent City to stand trial by the sword. I think we should arrange the transfer as quickly as possible,” she stated assertively. “Unless you think we can extract more information from them?” She added after a moment, seeming to remember that he was the one in charge there.

“No, I don’t think we can get anything new out of them, not without the Soul-Sword,” Alec responded thoughtfully. “And I agree with you, we need to transfer them as quickly as possible.”

If they had a mole, and by now Alec was almost sure they did, the prisoners were not safe in the Institute, especially Atwater. If the mole knew enough to warn Valentine to run away, they probably knew where Alec had acquired the information. But of course, he couldn’t say that to Lydia without giving away his suspicions.

“I was thinking we should send two teams to escort them to the Silent City through the—”

“I will escort the prisoners along with Jace and Izzy,” Alec interrupted her, there was no one else he trusted enough for it. “And I’ll ask Jace to take the boy to Alicante through our permanent portal right away.”

She narrowed her eyes to him for a moment, before nodding slowly. “Sure, if you think that’s the best course of action.”

“I do,” Alec stated seriously, already texting Jace to ask him to come by the office as soon as possible.

It didn’t take long for Jace to knock on the door, upon seeing Lydia in the office with Alec, he made an effort to be as professional as possible, but Alec could still see the suspicious looks he was sending her way, and he was sure Lydia could too.

As he gave Jace the mission instructions, Alec felt some reluctance from him. Jace had made clear the day before that he didn’t like the idea of sending the boy to Alicante instead of sending him to the Silent City with the others, but he didn’t argue before nodding respectfully and going away.

Once Jace left, Alec focused on the paperwork on his desk, and Lydia started working on her tablet, he wasn’t sure what her position was in the Inquisitor’s office, but she probably still had to do some paperwork, even while in New York.

After a few minutes, Alec turned on his monitor and opened the cameras to the containment cells so he could see Jace taking the boy out of the cell and keep an eye on the other prisoners until it was time to take them to the Silent City. Everything seemed to be going smoothly, the boy was accompanying Jace complacently, but from Jace’s annoyance, that Alec could feel through their bond, and the way the boy’s mouth never stopped moving, Alec was almost sure the boy was once again saying that they should all be following Valentine. Alec could only hope Jace wouldn’t lose his patience.

Between his focus on the paperwork, and keeping an eye on the monitors and on his bond with Jace, it took a while for Alec to notice that every couple of minutes Lydia raised her head and glanced at him, but after he noticed it, he couldn’t stop himself from getting antsy everytime she did so. “Is there something you want to say?” He questioned, putting his pen down and raising his head to look at her.

“I don’t mean to criticize your way of doing things,” Lydia said, averting her eyes.

Alec rolled his eyes, he knew his Institute was not runned the same way the others were, he had to adapt in ways none of the other Heads had, and this was not the first time someone from the Clave thought he wasn’t doing things the right way, but Alec didn’t care then and he didn’t care now, his way worked and no one could say otherwise. “Go ahead,” he said, gesturing for her to talk.

“It’s just— well, if I were in your position I wouldn’t leave the Institute to do these small tasks any team could handle,” she said after a short hesitation. “Especially without a Co-Head to take care of things while you are out.”

“I tried to do things the normal way,” Alec grimaced. “I mean, I tried staying in the office all day dealing with paperwork and politics, while my people were out in missions. It didn’t work too well,” he shrugged unconcerned. “But as you probably know, the Clave has no complains about my performance,” he added snarkily.

“No, of course not,” Lydia said quickly. “I didn’t mean to imply there was something wrong with the way you run the Institute, it’s just—” she paused, gesturing with her hands for a moment. “I guess we just have different leadership styles.”

“I guess so,” Alec nodded. “When I first got the job I thought I would do things the way my parents did, but running everything on my own was not what it seemed, I had to adapt.”

“I think I never thought about how different it is to run an Institute without a partner,” Lydia sighed, placing her tablet on the desk. “I always expected my husband to take care of operations while I’d take care of the administrative part, but I guess that won’t work without a husband,” she frowned.

Alec stared at her for a moment, then relaxed his stance a little. “Look, it’s not easy, but I’m sure you’ll find your way. For me it’s all about people and knowing who I can trust,” he paused, thinking about the mole and all the uncertainty that was surrounding the Institute lately. “Under normal circumstances I would send a team to deal with the transfer, but when it comes to the Circle I rather do things myself.”

“Of course, it makes sense,” Lydia said, nodding slowly, then she sighed. “I’m not so sure they are even going to consider me for that position, but I had to try.”

From what Alec had seen of her so far, she seemed like a great candidate for Head of Institute, she was driven, professional and task oriented, and it was obvious how much she wanted it. He couldn’t imagine why the Clave wouldn’t want her for the job.

“Why you think they won’t consider you?”

“Well, the Inquisitor is already questioning my discernment because of my decision to stay in New York, to begin with, she said she doesn’t understand my motivation,” her face twitched a little, as if she were making an effort not to show her feelings. “I tried staying put, you know, I followed orders, demonstrated my efficiency, and waited patiently for an opportunity, but when the first opportunity to run an Institute came, they didn’t even consider me for it.”

“The first opportunity?”

“The Alliance,” Lydia stated simply.

Alec raised his eyebrows in surprise, he had never stopped to think about who else had volunteered for the Alliance and what they had expected out of it, but if he had thought about it, he certainly wouldn’t have thought of someone like Lydia. “You? You volunteered for the Alliance?”

Lydia sighed, tilting her head and giving him a half-shrug; “I tried to volunteer, they didn’t accept it.”

“And you’d be just fine marrying a Downworlder just to be Head of an Institute?” Alec asked, still flabbergasted.

“You were fine, weren’t you?” Lydia retorted, frowning.

“Well, not at first,” Alec confessed, looking into her eyes. “Not until I met Magnus. If I actually had a choice back then, I wouldn’t volunteer to letting the Clave dictate who I would marry. I don’t think this would’ve worked if it was someone other than Magnus.”

“You are lucky then. You got the job and fell in love with the person who made it possible for you,” Lydia said with a sad smile. “I thought I was lucky too, I loved the person who could give me the job I wanted, and it was incredible,” she sighed, and Alec thought her eyes looked watery. “Then I found out that in this line of work the only thing worth falling in love with is the work itself.”

Alec nodded and looked away respectfully as Lydia raised a hand to wipe the corners of her eyes; “Oh, I’m so sorry,” she said in a low tone. “I don’t know what came to me to dump these things on you like that.”

“It’s okay,” he said awkwardly, he had never learned how to comfort crying women, so he changed the subject slightly, and asked Lydia her ideas on Clave jurisprudence.

When he saw on the monitors that Jace was back from Alicante, Alec decided to have lunch before taking the other prisoners to the Silent City, and invited Lydia to accompany him so they could continue their conversation.

They talked about things they would change in the Clave over lunch, and Alec actually laughed when Lydia told him some stories about things that happen in the Inquisitor’s office, and how some of the Council members acted when they didn’t get what they wanted.

Jace and Izzy, that were having lunch with Clary a couple of tables away, raised their eyebrows to him questioningly, and Alec felt a wave of concern and suspicion coming from Jace, he ignored them, he was enjoying talking to Lydia. She had an abrasive personality, but as they talked and Alec noticed how much they had in common, he had to wonder if he wouldn’t be just like her if he hadn’t married Magnus.

Alec didn’t have many people he could call friends, the closest to it were his siblings, but he had been in charge of taking care of them for most of his life, and he didn’t think that made a balanced friendship. The same applied to Andrew, they always had good conversations, especially after Alec made it clear that he was gay and Andrew came out to him, but Alec was his boss, so that wasn’t a balanced friendship either. Magnus had his friends and they were all close to Alec too, but that wasn’t the same as having his own friends.

Lydia and him could be friends, he thought as she rolled her eyes talking about the current Head of the Lisbon Institute, but he shook the thought away at the same moment it formed in his mind, he couldn’t be friends with anyone right now, not when they had a mole in their midst and he had no idea who it could be.

“I read about him in Henry’s diaries,” she said when the conversation turned to Magnus. “I guess I didn’t expect him to be quite this,” she paused, gesturing with her hands as if trying to find the right word, “extravagant.”

Alec chuckled, extravagant was certainly a word for Magnus. “I don’t think anyone from the Clave would expect that.”

“When he talked about Henry making glitter for him I was a little taken aback, but as soon as we got to the factory he was so in control and knowledgeable,” Lydia stated with obvious admiration. “Do you think he would mind talking to me about my ancestors? I bet he knows more about them than my family does. What he said about Henry being more interested in inventing things than in running the Institute, for example, I got that same feeling from his diaries, but that’s not what my family thinks.”

“I’m sure he would love to talk to you about it,” Alec said smiling. Magnus loved to tell histories about his past, he would be thrilled to have someone so eager to listen.

As they were finishing their meal, Lydia said; “If that’s okay with you, I think I should interrogate Clarissa now, that’s the reason the Inquisitor sent me here after all.”

“That works fine for me,” Alec said with a half-shrug. “You can take her to the conference room down the hallway from my office, no one is using it.”

And that would also give Alec the opportunity to transfer the prisoners to the Silent City without Clary babbling in his head asking to go with them. He gestured for Lydia to follow him and paused in front of the table where his siblings and Clary were.

“Clary, did you remember anything else?” He asked, ignoring Jace’s and Izzy’s questioning looks to Lydia. He couldn’t risk Clary telling Lydia something he didn’t know about, in case Lydia was working for the Circle or someone higher up who would read her report was.

“Nothing new,” Clary answered, frowning. “Why?”

“Lydia will ask you some questions, and—” he said seriously.

“Why?” Clary interrupted in a confrontational manner.

“Don’t start that again,” Izzy muttered beside her.

“The Inquisitor sent Lydia to determine if you can stay in New York or if you should be sent to Alicante immediately,” Alec continued as if she hadn’t interrupted. “So if I were you I would keep that in mind and answer her questions without your usual amount of disrespect for authorities. Or don’t, and then we can just send you away to be someone else’s problem.”

She locked her jaw, and Alec saw her effort not to argue. “Fine,” Clary huffed, getting up from the table.

Jace was about to do the same, but Alec made him stop with a hand on his shoulder. He looked at Alec with suspicion, but Alec just shook his head lightly and gestured for Lydia to take Clary away.

“So you’ll just let this Lydia come to the Institute and order people around?” Jace questioned snarkily. “I thought hell would freeze over before you allowed the Clave to interfere in our Institute.”

“The Clave is not interfering with the Institute,” Alec stated evenly. “Lydia is here doing her job, under Imogen’s orders, and I don’t want anyone interfering with it.” The_ not even you _ was implied. “Besides, we have a mission.”

“Well, now I’m interested,” Izzy grinned, getting up from the table, ready for action.

“Don’t get too excited, it’s just a prisoner transfer,” Alec said, smiling at his sister’s enthusiasm.

“Then why are we doing it instead of sending someone else?” Jace asked impatiently.

Alec looked around, a good number of Shadowhunters were there having lunch, and he knew some of them could hear their conversation. “Because I’m saying so,” he said without leaving room for arguments, and walked away. 

He would explain everything to Jace and Izzy later, once no one was around to listen and the prisoners were safe under the Silent Brothers’ custody.

Jace and Izzy exchanged a worried look before following him into the elevator, and as soon as the door closed, Jace turned to him and asked; “Alec, what’s going on? You’ve been weird all day.”

“Later,” he said evenly, trying to keep them focused on the task ahead.

The transfer went on without a hitch. It was a relief to finally have a mission go well, even if it was a simple prisoner transfer. After the last couple of missions, Alec was starting to think there was something wrong with them.

“You are getting really cozy with that Lydia, hm?” Jace questioned as they walked back to the Institute, making Alec sigh.

“She is a good person,” he shrugged.

“Forget about that,” Izzy cut in impatiently. “Are you going to tell us what’s going on or not?”

“In the office,” Alec stated seriously, glancing around them with what even he could recognized as a touch of paranoia.

He didn’t miss the concerned glance Izzy and Jace exchanged beside him, but they both knew better than to insist on it after he said he would talk to them in the office.

Once they were back in the office, Jace and Izzy sat on the chairs in front of his desk and looked up at him with expectation. Alec didn’t feel like sitting down, so he leaned against the wall beside the door.

“Izzy, first tell me what you found in the capsules and the stuff we brought from the factory?”

“Okay,” Izzy said with a bit of uncertainty. “Well, I never saw a body decomposing that quickly,” she frowned. “I didn’t have time to look through everything from the factory yet, but I analysed the capsules and they had high concentrations of cyanide and ichor.”

“He swallowed ichor?” Jace grimaced just as Alec felt his stomach turning.

“Yeah,” Izzy said with disgust. “The ichor on it’s own would be bad enough, but the cyanide made it work faster, I don’t think there is any way to stop the effects once the person takes it.”

Alec exhaled deeply and nodded. “Have you told anyone about that?”

“No?” Izzy said questioningly, narrowing her eyes to him. “Is there a reason for you to ask me that?”

“I don’t want anyone other than us to have concrete information right now.” Alec stared at his siblings for a moment, they were the only two people in the Institute he was a hundred percent sure about. “I think we might have a mole.”

“What?” Jace hissed, standing up immediately, just as Izzy asked;

“Who?”

“I don’t know,” Alec said tiredly, rubbing his temples. “I just think it’s too much of a coincidence for the Circle to know when to run, and that they knew Clary would be back at her apartment yesterday.”

“You don’t think it’s Clary, do you?” Jace questioned with that flare of protectiveness that worried Alec so much.

“It wouldn’t make sense to be her,” Alec stated and started to pace through the office. “Even if she were here just to get her memories back, she wouldn’t have to tell us where she thought the Cup was after that, and— well— I don’t know, Jace. The way she showed up out of nowhere just as the Circle ressurged is weird, but Magnus—” he grunted in frustration. “No, I don’t think it’s her, but I don’t trust her either.”

“That makes sense to me,” Izzy said before Jace could respond. “I mean, if she is being sincere, she opened up to us really easily, we’ve known her for less than a week. We can’t trust her with important information if it’s that easy to make her talk.”

Jace frowned for a moment, looking from Alec to Izzy and back, before nodding stiffly. “You are right, but if we can’t trust her, I don’t think we can trust anyone new either,” he said giving Alec a meaningful look.

“Lydia is not exactly new, though,” Alec argued, even though he didn’t trust her completely. “She has been working for Imogen since before the Alliance.”

“That only tells me that she may have been infiltrated in the Clave for years waiting for the right moment,” Jace said stubbornly.

“It can’t be her,” Alec said with more certainty than he felt before talking to Jace and Izzy. “She wasn’t here yesterday morning when we went to Clary’s apartment.”

“We already thought the Circle would be watching her place, though, maybe that was just a coincidence,” Jace retorted.

“But you heard them,” Izzy pointed out. “They said someone told them Clary would be alone.”

“Valentine told them!” Jace said frustrated. “Maybe he thought we would let her go back home to pick up her stuff or something, I don’t know.”

“Think about it, Jace,” Alec interrupted with exasperation. “They weren’t scouting the place, Atwater said they got the order to go there that morning. What else happened yesterday morning?”

“Clary woke up and started screeching about the Cup and going back home in the middle of the command center,” Izzy said astonished. “Only someone inside the Institute would know about that.”

“And Lydia wasn’t here yet,” Alec added, nodding to Izzy. “And there wasn’t enough time for the information to reach her when she was probably getting ready to come.”

“I just feel like we can’t trust her!” Jace exclaimed irritated.

Alec didn’t think she was the mole, but that didn’t mean he thought he could trust her either, for now, it was for the better to keep everything as private as possible. That way, if anything got out, he would at least have a general idea of who the mole could be.

“Maybe you are just jealous because Alec is making a new friend,” Izzy snorted after a few moments of tense silence. “You were the same way with Magnus at first.”

“No, I wasn’t,” Jace huffed, crossing his arms over his chest in a defensive way.

“Oh, yeah?” Izzy rolled her eyes. “‘Alec never has time for us anymore, Iz,’” she said in a lower and grumpier tone, trying to imitate Jace’s voice. “‘He is always running out after work instead of hanging out, Iz.’”

“Shut,” Jace hissed, taking a step towards Izzy with his hand ready to cover her mouth. 

She jumped away from him and placed the chair between them as she continued; “‘I can’t believe he is going on a second honeymoon, Izzy, what kind of person has a second honeymoon anyway?’” Izzy laughed as Alec covered his face with a hand and shook his head. “‘Can you believe they are going skiing and they are not taking me? I’m Alec’s _ parabatai _—’”

“Enough!” Jace grunted, finally managing to reach Izzy and cover her mouth with his hand. “So I may have complained a bit, but this is not the same.”

“Either way,” Alec said, trying to go back to the seriousness of the situation. “I don’t think we can trust anyone right now,” he hesitated for a moment, pondering if he should mention their parents or not, then deciding it was better to be completely honest with the two of them. “I’m afraid mom and dad could be falling back into their old ways.”

That brought back all the gravity of the situation.

“They changed,” Izzy murmured, falling backwards on the chair. “I know they changed.”

“Until two years ago we didn’t even know they had anything to change,” Alec sighed. “I just— You and Magnus are the only people I trust.”

“We will help you find out what’s really going on,” Jace said soberly.

Alec and Jace sat too, and they started to discuss ways to uncover the mole. It was almost an hour later when Alec’s phone rang. He saw Magnus’ name on the caller id and frowned, looking up to the clock above the fireplace, it was still early, and Magnus didn’t have the habit of calling him in the middle of the work without reason.

“Hi,” Alec couldn’t stop his voice from softening when he answered the phone. “Is everything okay?”

“I’m afraid not, love,” Magnus said seriously, making Alec sit straighter on the chair. “Raphael just called, he said something about the Mundane you asked him to help?”

“Simon?” Alec frowned, and both Jace and Izzy tensed up, staring at him.

“He didn’t give me a name,” Magnus answered. “But he said it had something to do with the girl, so I assume he meant Clary?”

“Simon is her friend, he got involved with everything that was happening,” Alec explained quickly. “What happened?”

“Raphael just said a friend from the Long Island coven called and that something happened to the Mundane. He said he will bring the boy here after sundown,” Magnus said hesitantly. “It didn’t sound good, Alexander.”

Alec had a dreadful feeling on his gut as he turned off the phone a few moments later.

“What’s it?” Jace asked immediately.

“Is Simon hurt?” Izzy questioned frazzled.

“Magnus doesn’t know,” Alec replied quickly, raising his hands in front of her in a placating gesture. “Raphael only said a friend from Camille’s coven called him and that something happened to Simon.”

Izzy bit her lips worriedly, they all knew it was never a good idea to get Mundanes involved with the Shadow World, and now they would have to face the consequences.

“Should we tell Clary?” Jace asked, grimacing.

“Raphael will take Simon back to my apartment after sundown,” Alec shrugged. “I don’t think there is much harm she can do if we take her there with us.”


	14. Chapter 14

_How bad could it be? _ Alec wondered as they walked from the subway station to his apartment.

He doubted Camille would be stupid enough to kill Simon. Killing Mundanes had always been against the law, of course, but since the Downworlders started self-policing, every offense had been met with the harshest punishment, none of the leaders wanted to jeopardize the Alliance. Camille could be locked in a coffin for centuries, if not staked through the heart, all depending on her defense. Either way, if she had been stupid enough to kill Simon, she wouldn’t be left unscathed, and she knew that.

So, other than him being dead, how bad could it be? Maybe she fed him enough of her blood to turn him into a subjugate, if that was it, Simon would seem compliant now and would do whatever she wanted him to. It would be terribly hard to prove to the other Vampire leaders that Simon didn’t ask her for it.

Whatever it was, Alec considered relocating Simon, maybe they could say he was visiting someone out of state for a while, at least until Camille’s blood was out of his system. Allowing him to stay in New York after Camille gave him some of her blood was certainly a mistake Alec wouldn’t make again.

The moment Alec opened the door, Clary cut in front of him and bursted in. “Where’s Simon?” She demanded of Magnus, who had just appeared in the foyer with a martini in hand.

Magnus looked at Clary and frowned, before turning to Alec, raising a questioning eyebrow. Alec just shrugged, putting away his weapons on the hooks close to the door.

“Shoes,” Magnus said, turning back to Clary.

“You never ask Raphael, Ragnor and Catarina to take off their shoes,” Izzy complained, bending to unzip her thigh length boots.

“They usually have clean shoes,” Magnus shrugged, rolling his eyes. “You Shadowhunters have the tendency to drag dead things on your feet,” he added, looking at Izzy pointedly.

“Hey, that was one time!” Izzy protested, pulling her boots off.

“And ichor,” Magnus continued as if she hadn’t said anything, gesturing with his martini glass to Alec.

“That was only in the beginning,” Alec replied, already shoeless, as he crossed the foyer to give Magnus a peck.

“And Jace,” Magnus finished with a raised eyebrow.

For a moment Alec’s mind went back to the week Jace stayed with them, two years ago, he spent most of the time slumped on their couch, unshaved, completely drunk, and stinking.

“You have a point there,” Alec conceded with a chuckle, nuzzling Magnus cheek, before giving him a chaste kiss on the lips.

“Hey!” Jace exclaimed, faking outrage.

“That’s not important!” Clary interrupted before Jace could say anything to defend himself, kicking off her shoes in the corner behind the door. “Where’s Simon? What happened to him?”

“They are not here yet,” Magnus said, turning away from them and playing with his ear cuff.

Alec knew what that meant, Magnus was anxious, whatever Raphael told him over the phone had put him on edge. What Alec didn’t know was if Magnus was worried because of what happened to Simon, or if it was because Camille was involved. Somehow he doubted Magnus would get this anxious over someone he didn’t even know.

That little whisper of self-doubt that always showed up when Camille was mentioned stirred in Alec’s mind and he tried to shove it down unsuccessfully.

He had to wonder if Magnus was worried about the consequences Camille would have to face for her actions. He had never been able to forget the things Camille said the only time they actually saw each other face to face. She had said in no uncertain terms that she would always be a constante in Magnus’ life, while Alec would just be a fleeting thing.

Before he could dwell on his insecurities, Jace elbowed him on the ribs and gestured with his head questioningly.

“Nothing,” Alec murmured with a dismissive nod, following Magnus to the living room.

Magnus gestured for them to sit, slipping into host mode seamlessly. “Any of you care for a drink?”

Clary shook her head, sitting on the middle of the couch, while Magnus directed himself to his drink cart.

“I could use one of your martinis right now,” Izzy sighed tiredly, dropping on the couch beside Clary.

“One of your expensive whiskeys is good enough for me,” Jace smirked, throwing himself on Clary’s other side.

“And yet nobody understands why you are the downside to my marriage,” Magnus snorted.

“You wouldn’t be in this marriage if it wasn’t for me,” Jace chuckled, as Magnus handed him and Izzy their drinks. “Izzy would have kidnapped Alec and stopped him from going to the wedding if I wasn’t there to stop her.”

“That’s a low blow,” Izzy protested laughing. “I thought Alec was about to marry some woman, I wouldn’t have tried to stop it if I knew it was Magnus.”

Clary was looking from Magnus and Alec to Izzy and Jace, frowning.

“All in the past,” Magnus said with a fond smile, coming to stand close to Alec and lacing their arms. “And how have you been doing, Clary?” He questioned, tilting his head to her. “How are your old memories settling in?”

“Some of my old memories don’t make much sense,” Clary said, biting her lip. “But I think I understand things better now.”

“It’s normal for older memories to get mixed with other memories from the same period of time,” Magnus said in his professional tone. “It doesn’t have anything to do with losing them.”

Clary nodded thoughtfully, then half-smiled. “I remember drawing on a white leather couch you used to have, and Dot saying that the couch was hideous and you should thank me for decorating it.”

Magnus rolled his eyes, but smiled fondly. “I made some judgemental errors in the early two thousands.”

Izzy and Clary laughed, and Alec felt Magnus let go of some of the tension he was carrying on his shoulders.

Alec ran a hand up and down his arm before taking a sip from Magnus’ martini. “And what about your talk with Lydia?”

“Oh, Lydia, dear perfect Lydia,” Jace murmured, rolling his eyes and making Izzy chuckle.

“My interrogation, you mean?” Clary huffed with annoyance.

“You can call it whatever you want,” Alec shrugged unconcerned. “I’m just asking if it was everything alright.”

“I didn’t tell her anything you don’t already know,” Clary said, averting her gaze.

“Well, at least Clary is not entranced by perfect Lydia,” Jace mumbled, but Alec was not paying attention to him.

He narrowed his eyes to Clary, thinking for a moment about what she had just said, while Magnus asked Jace and Izzy about Lydia, there was something about the way Clary said that, something that didn’t sit well with Alec. “Do you have anything else to tell us?” He asked, interrupting whatever it was Jace was complaining about.

“I— Maybe— I don't know,” Clary sighed, then shook her head stiffly. “But it doesn’t matter. The only thing important now is what happened to Simon,” she said, rubbing her hands together.

Alec highly disagreed. Anything Clary remembered could lead to the location of the Mortal Cup, and that was the only reason they kept her around. He opened his mouth to say just that, but before he could do it, Magnus tensed up again and waved his hand to the door, opening it just as Raphael sped through with Simon’s lifeless body on his arms.

“Simon!” Clary screamed, jumping from the couch and stumbling towards him, and Raphael froze in place, holding the body in the middle of the living room. “Is he dead?” She screeched, with tears running down her face.

_ Simon was dead, _ Alec thought, feeling his stomach turn. That was exactly what he most feared, he never wanted Simon to get caught in Shadow World business and end up dead.

With a wave of his hand, Magnus summoned his working table from his workroom and Raphael placed Simon on it carefully.

Alec couldn’t believe it, he was so sure Camille wouldn’t have the guts to kill a Mundane like that. And yet, there Simon was. His skin was ashy and extremely pale, there were two deep gashes on his neck, but no blood, he was completely drained.

It felt wrong to see him like that, completely motionless, when the little time they had spent with Simon had shown Alec that he was never able to stay still, never able to keep quiet. He had been so overly excited in life, and even a bit annoying, but Alec had to confess, he thought the Mundane was overall kind of a sweet boy.

He felt a sting of sorrow coming from Jace, and turned to see Izzy staring at the body with her eyes widened and her hands trembling, Alec knew her enough to recognize the regret on her face. They all knew how risky it was to get too close to Mundanes, they shouldn’t have let this happen. 

It was their fault. They knew better. They should have known better.

“What happened?” Clary demanded teary, grabbing Simon’s shoulder and shaking him, as if she thought she could wake him up. “What did you do to him?”

Raphael raised one eyebrow, but otherwise ignored her questions, turning to speak to Alec instead. “A friend from the Long Island Coven called after they found him in Camille’s dining room,” he said, curling his lips with disgust.

At the mention of Camille’s name, Alec noticed, Magnus walked away from the commotion and directed himself to his drink cart.

“But how did this happened?” Clary asked, sniffing and holding Simon’s hand carefully. “Did the Vampires kidnap him again?”

“_The Vampires _ didn’t do anything,” Raphael said pointedly. “_Your friend _ went after Camille, he had a taste of her blood and couldn’t resist coming back wanting more.”

“He is dead!” Clary cried in outrage. “How can you blame him like that and—”

“Clary, please,” Jace murmured, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Raphael and the other Vampires have nothing to do with this, it’s all Camille,” Jace snarled, locking his jaw in rage.

“And what happens now?” Clary weeped, rubbing her eyes with her fingers. “Is she just going to get away with killing him?”

For once, Alec agreed with Clary, they couldn’t let Camille get away with killing a Mundane like that. He looked at Magnus to try to get his support, but Magnus didn’t meet his eyes.

“Is Camille going crazy?” Alec questioned more forcefully than he intended.

“We are not that lucky,” Raphael said somberly. “She knew he would go into fledgeling state, and she is counting that we won’t turn him. With him dead, she can tell the other representatives that he asked to be turned, but his body was taken before she could bury him.”

“And she would get out completely above the law, because the only one who would be able to testify against her is Simon,” Alec grunted in frustration.

The more they talked about her, more Magnus kept his distance from the conversation, he had served himself of another drink, and was staring at his glass with a frown, playing with his ear cuff worriedly. Magnus couldn’t be worried about Simon, they didn’t even know each other after all, he could only be worried for Camille.

Maybe he was worried Camille would be staked by the other Vampires.

Alec felt somewhat nauseated. He couldn’t believe he was being jealous of Magnus when a Mundane he was supposed to protect was dead in the middle of his living room. He shook himself off, and decided to focus on Simon.

“What do you mean?” Clary mumbled, raising her watery eyes to Alec. “He isn’t dead? But— But you said he wouldn’t become a Vampire just because he was bitten—” she said, turning to Jace helplessly.

Jace hesitated, glancing at Raphael instead of answering.

Raphael sighed, rolling his eyes. “Well, as you can see, he isn’t a Vampire, he is a fledgeling.”

“What’s the difference?” Clary asked, running her hand through her face to clean the tears. “What does that mean?”

“It’s a state of transition,” Raphael explained with little patience. “Your friend can be resurrected.”

“So I could have Simon back,” Clary questioned, trembling. “Alive and breathing?”

“As much as I am alive and breathing,” Raphael shrugged. “But he was killed last night, there isn’t much time before the decision needs to be made.”

“What decision?” Clary mumbled.

“Simon must be buried to complete the transition tonight or staked through the heart,” Raphael said simply.

“And if we do neither?” Clary said breathly, widening her eyes.

“His soul will be trapped for eternity,” he replied matter-of-factly.

Clary sobbed, letting go of Simon and dropping back on the couch. “He called me so many times yesterday,” she whispered, covering her face with her hands. “I should have called him back, I should have—”

“You didn’t know,” Izzy said sorrowfully, sitting beside Clary and patting her on the back. “There was nothing you could do.”

“It doesn’t matter that I didn’t know,” Clary said, sniffing. “He’s my best friend, I was supposed to be there for him. This is all my fault.”

“Clary, this isn’t your—” Jace said, trying to comfort her, but she stopped him.

“No, it is!” Clary said forcefully. “Alec is right,” she sniffed. “If it wasn’t for me, Simon would’ve never even known about the Shadow World. He wouldn’t be dead.”

Jace and Izzy exchanged a look, then turned to Alec, making him sigh. “It’s not your fault,” he said firmly. “You didn’t know better, _ we _ should have stopped you from dragging him along, and I should have kept an eye on him after we sent him back home.”

Clary nodded slowly. “It doesn’t matter anymore, he is dead now.”

“Fledgeling,” Raphael corrected impatiently. “We have to stake his heart for him to be properly dead.”

“If I— if I bury Simon, what are the risks?” Clary asked, looking up at Raphael.

“That’s not your decision to make,” Alec interrupted before Raphael could answer. “Only Simon could make the choice, and in absence of that possibility, it’s Raphael’s responsibility as Coven leader to decide what should be done.”

“But— But he is my best friend,” Clary mumbled.

“And you think this is what he would want?” Raphael asked, gesturing to himself with his hands.

“I— I just need to know what happens now,” she sobbed, raising from the couch again, and approaching Simon’s body. “I need to understand the options.”

Alec rolled his eyes and turned away from them. He wasn’t even sure what outcome would be preferable. If Simon re-emerged as a Vampire they would have his testimony against Camille and eventually he would be able to adapt himself to his new life, but Alec didn’t know what Simon would want, and he would hate to do anything that would go against Simon’s wishes. In the end, he knew it was not his place to interfere with any of it, it was all up to Raphael and how he would want to do this.

“If Simon is buried and he doesn’t emerge, he will be trapped under the earth, starving for eternity,” Raphael said seriously.

“Oh my god,” Clary inhaled sharply. “And uh— If you stake him?”

“He will die a human death,” Raphael shrugged. “It’s painless, as far as I know.”

“Simon, I’m so sorry,” she cried, running her hand through his hair carefully.

Alec looked around for a moment, while Clary cried over Simon. Magnus had moved away from his drink cart and was staring out the balcony doors now, seeming deep in thought, Jace was on the couch, with his face buried on his hands and Alec could feel that he was conflicted about Simon’s situation too, and Izzy was by his side with teary eyes, her feet were on the couch, and she was hugging her knees. Alec sighed and crossed the room to sit beside Izzy on the arm of the couch.

“Are you alright?” He whispered.

Izzy shrugged and sighed, placing her head on his shoulder. She had spent more time with Simon than he and Jace, they had flirted with each other and seemed to get along. Alec didn’t think she seriously considered a real relationship with him, but she had a big heart, and he knew she really liked him.

“What about the rest of it?” Clary questioned after a few minutes. “He’ll have to drink blood to survive, right?”

“Obviously,” Raphael answered.

“How is that done? If he can’t kill people—”

Alec rolled his eyes, resting a hand on Izzy’s knee to comfort her.

“There is a healthy supply chain, nowadays,” Raphael answered unconcerned. “We have animal blood suppliers, and we keep the blood banks’ leftovers. The shelf life for Vampire consumption is bigger than for human transfusion,” he shrugged. “And our contacts always keep the contaminated blood that they can’t use in hospitals but we can drink safely.”

Clary nodded thoughtfully, watching Simon and running her hand through his hair. “I— I think you should bury him,” she said eventually.

“Are you sure about that?” Raphael questioned, raising an eyebrow to her. “You really think this is something your friend would want? To live a condemned life, watching everybody he loves dying, always staying the same while the world around him changes?”

Clary swallowed dry, staring at Simon intensely.

“He would never be able to go into a sacred place again,” Raphael continued. “Even your Institutes have some places where Vampires can’t enter without risking a painful death. And he wouldn’t be able to be around his family, not for a long while, even if he can control the bloodlust, they would notice he changed and that’s not something most people can understand. Are you sure he would want to live like that?”

“He would want to live,” Clary stated firmly.

“So be it,” Raphael declared.

“Can I be there for him?” She asked, raising her head to look at Raphael.

Raphael thought for a moment, then shrugged. “Sure, but keep in mind that he will be thirsty and confused when he gets out of the grave. He may try to attack you. And Nephilim blood is more tempting than Mundane blood, we may need to contain him.”

Clary nodded slowly, before Raphael excused himself and went into Magnus’ workroom. Alec left Izzy on the couch and approached Magnus.

“Are you coming with us?” He asked in a slightly cold tone. He didn’t want to fight with Magnus, but he wasn’t able to completely put out of his mind everything that he had been thinking.

Magnus tilted his head and narrowed his eyes to Alec for a moment, before nodding. “It’s going to be easier for everyone involved if I’m there.”

“Sure,” Alec said, before turning away and going back to Izzy. Jace raised a concerned eyebrow to him, but Alec just shook his head.

The moment Raphael came out of Magnus’ workroom with a duffle bag that Alec was almost sure was filled with blood bags, Magnus opened a portal for them and levitated Simon’s body through it to the cemetery.

The night was clear and the cemetery was quiet, cars passed by fast outside and only the hooting of the owls broke the silence of the place. For Alec it felt peaceful, but he knew that even nowadays that they didn’t believe in the creatures of the night anymore, the Mundanes still avoided cemeteries after dark instinctively. Little did they know that the creatures of the night were more than used to blending into society seamlessly.

Raphael directed them to a specific place in the outskirts of the cemetery and gestured to the space where Simon would be buried.

“It’s a nice place,” Izzy murmured weakly as Magnus placed Simon’s body carefully on the floor.

Clary kneeled down close to the body and started talking to him in hushed tones. Alec looked away, allowing her some privacy, he couldn’t avoid feeling for her, he couldn’t imagine how hard it must be to see her best friend like that without knowing if he would be able to complete the transformation or not.

After a few moments, Clary stepped away from him, trembling, and reached for Jace’s hand before nodding for Raphael to go on.

Magnus waved his hands and made the dirt rise, forming Simon’s grave, and Raphael picked the body up effortlessly and deposited it on the bottom of the hole, before climbing out for Magnus to move the dirt back in.

“Now we wait,” Raphael said simply, as Clary started to cry again, holding on to Jace and Izzy.

Alec observed all of them for a moment, Raphael moved to lean against a tree near the grave side, Clary kneeled close to the grave again, with Jace and Izzy kneeling close to her, and Magnus took a few steps away and turned to look at the passing cars.

“I’ll check the perimeter,” Alec murmured to no one in particular, before walking away.

They couldn’t let this make them forget that the Circle was still out there hunting Warlocks and looking for Clary. It was better to keep an eye on their surroundings just to be sure. At least no one knew where they were, so there was no way the mole would be able to pass the information to Valentine.

Alec was considering climbing a tree to get a better view of the cemetery, when he heard steps behind him. He sighed and turned to find Magnus looking at him with a worried frown.

“Is everything alright, Alexander?”

“I should be the one asking you that,” Alec retorted, raising an eyebrow.

Magnus sighed deeply, walking the last few steps towards Alec. “I should’ve known you would notice.”

“You were not making an effort to hide it,” Alec commented, still doing his best to not show Magnus how upset he really was, and failing miserably.

“I’m sorry, love,” Magnus murmured, reaching with a hand to touch Alec’s arm. “Sometimes it’s hard for me to reconcile the Camille I knew all those years ago with the person who kills an innocent Mundane like that.”

“So, you are going to tell me that Camille didn’t kill innocent Mundanes back in the good old days?” Alec snorted in disbelief. He had read Camille’s file and talked to Raphael about her, he knew too much about her past to believe she was ever any different from what she is now.

“I guess I was blind to that side of her back then,” Magnus admitted, tilting his head to look into Alec’s eyes. “Are you upset with me because of it?”

“Are you worried about what’s going to happen to Camille now?” Alec retorted instead of answering.

“It’s hard, Alexander, Camille and I— We have too much history.”

“You say that, but you never talk to me about it, I don’t know anything about all this history you have with her,” Alec replied, feeling like a petulant child for bringing his insecurities up like that.

Magnus closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath, before raising his eyes to look into Alec’s. “When I was living in London in the early 1870s, I was in a bad place. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t see my way out. Then on one particular stormy night, I got as far as the ledge of Blackfriars Bridge,” he said honestly, making Alec feel like there was something gripping his throat tightly. “And if— If it wasn’t for Camille I wouldn’t be here right now. She was the only one who cared enough to stop me. She saved me from myself.”

Alec exhaled deeply, feeling his whole body tremble with conflicting emotions. He hated Camille, he had hated her for almost as long as he had known Magnus, but how could he hate the person responsible for saving Magnus’ life. He would never even have met Magnus if Camille wasn’t there to save him back then. Alec nodded slowly, and pulled Magnus into a hug. “I’m sorry,” he murmured, burying his nose in Magnus’ hair.

“It’s okay, Sayang,” Magnus whispered back, holding Alec firmly. “I’m okay. I just don’t know how to stop caring for her, even if I know she doesn’t deserve it anymore.”

“You don’t have to stop caring for her,” Alec replied letting some of his emotions transpire in his voice. “But you have to understand that they can’t let her go around unpunished.”

“I know,” Magnus sighed, dropping his head on Alec’s shoulder. “It’s hard, but I understand that sometimes there’s nothing we can do for people who don’t think they need to change.”

They stayed there in each other’s embrace for a long time, until Alec heard a commotion coming from the place where they had left the others. They hurried back, holding hands, just in time to see the floor vibrating and Raphael approaching the grave with the duffle bag he had brought from the loft.

“It’s happening,” he said as Jace pulled Clary back.

Simon’s hand moving in Vampire speed was the first thing out of the ground, being quickly followed by Simon’s torso as he breathed heavily pulling himself out of the ground. Magnus let go of Alec’s hand to get himself ready to use his magic if there was any need for it, and Alec went to stand closer to Jace, Izzy and Clary, knowing that their blood would be more attractive to Simon than Magnus’ and getting ready to protect them if Raphael didn’t manage to contain Simon on his own.

Raphael didn’t seem concerned, he opened the bag and picked up a couple of blood bags, just as Simon finished crawling out of the grave and was grunting and puffing on the floor, covered in dirt.

“Simon,” Clary murmured, Simon raised his head to the sound and Clary tried to take a step ahead but was stopped by Alec’s arm. “It’s me— It’s Clary,” she said weakly.

Simon hissed and flung towards her, still unable to control his legs, making her scream and take a step back.

“Once you reborn, you emerge hungry,” Raphael said matter-of-factly, throwing the blood bags to Simon.

Simon reached for them in clear desperation, sinking his elongated fangs on the bags and sucking messily, making the bright red blood drip from his mouth to his chin, hands and shirt.

“Very hungry,” Raphael commented as Clary’s breath hitched and she covered her mouth, staring at Simon with her eyes wide. “Drink up.”

It took a few more blood bags for Simon to get more stable. He was breathing erratically, and his eyes were looking wildly from one side to the other.

“Clary?” He stuttered, when his eyes found her behind Alec and Jace. “What’s happening?”

“You uh— You died,” Clary said hesitantly.

“I what?” Simon exclaimed in shock, looking at his hands covered in dirt and blood and at the floor around him. “What’s this?” He asked, picking up one of the blood bags, and jumping away from the grave. “That’s blood!” He gasped in clear desperation. Then he felt the fangs in his mouth, and raised his hand to touch it. “Oh my —” he choked. “Oh my —” he choked again, spitting blood. “Why can’t I say —” he choked one more time, as blood ran down his chin.

“God,” Raphael said clearly, and Alec had no idea how he was able to do it so easily. “It will take effort to regain the ability. There’s a lot for you to learn.”

“Oh my —” Simon sputtered. “Damn it!” He punched the floor in anger. “Am I— Am I a Vampire?” He asked, looking up at Clary with begging eyes.

“Yeah,” Clary whispered, trying to contain her tears.

“Clary tell me— Tell me this is not real— Tell me this is not happening,” Simon begged, shaking.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Clary replied with her voice trembling. “I’m so sorry.”

“I— I— I’m repulsive!” Simon grunted.

“No, please, please, don’t say that, okay?” Clary cried, and Jace had to hold her to stop her from going towards Simon.

Raphael and Alec exchanged a look, and Raphael narrowed his eyes. Alec was almost sure they were thinking the same. Trusting Clary with that choice had been a mistake.

“You are still the same, Simon,” Clary sobbed. “You are the same Simon I’ve known my whole life. The same guy who— who loves sci-fi,” she stuttered. “And who can recite every line from every Nicolas Cage movie.” Raphael grimaced and exchanged another glance with Alec. “The same Simon who carried me over the Brooklyn Bridge when I lost my shoe, okay?”

“No, Clary, I’m not!” Simon stated forcefully.

“Yes, you are, Simon!” Clary yelled. “You are the same Simon, you are my best friend!”

“I’m not!” Simon’s breath hitched. “I’m nothing more than a monster.”

“You are not a monster,” Raphael stated firmly, making Simon turn to him.

“You did this to me?” Simon asked, widening his eyes.

Raphael opened his mouth to answer, but Clary interrupted him before he could say anything. “Simon, it was my choice,” she confessed. “You died. Raphael brought you from there, but I was the one who made the choice. I could stake your heart or I could bury you, and you would come back.”

Simon stared at her in shock and clear disbelief. “Clary, why?”

“Because I love you, Simon!” Clary yelled, trying once again to take a step forward, but being contained by Jace.

“You call that love?” Simon retorted angrily. “You brought me back to this? This nothing? Where I feed and I have to hide from the sun? And I can’t bare to get close to the people that I love? Did you ever think about that, Clary? How I would feel? What I would be?”

“Simon, please, understand I—” Clary sobbed, extending a hand for him, even though he wasn’t anywhere close to her.

“Just stay away from me,” Simon declared, curling his lips to her, before speeding away from the cemetery.

“Simon, please!” Clary screamed after him, but he was far away already.

“Aren’t you going to follow him or something?” Izzy questioned, raising an eyebrow to Raphael, who had just picked a jar from the duffle bag and was crouched beside the grave, collecting some dirt.

“And why would I?” Raphael retorted, rolling his eyes as he stood up. “This is the first time he is speeding away, he won’t be able to make curves and will crash into the first thing that shows up.”

“And you are just going to let him hurt himself?” Clary squeaked, running her hands through her face to clean the tears.

“He is a Vampire now, Clary,” Jace replied with little patience. “The only way he will hurt himself is if he runs straight into a stake.”

“That,” Raphael said, nodding towards Jace, before turning to Magnus and Alec. “I called the other representatives before leaving your apartment, they made me responsible for Camille’s containment. I already sent word to the rest of my Coven and to my contacts in the other Covens, they have Camille locked up in the Dumort, so I can keep an eye on her for the time being.”

Alec glanced at Magnus for a moment, he was staring at Raphael expressionlessly, then nodded stiffly. Raphael nodded back curtly, before speeding away after Simon.

“I have to explain to Simon, I have to talk to him,” Clary yelled after him, pulling away from Jace in an effort to go after Raphael. “Please, I have to talk to him!”

“He doesn’t seem to want to talk to anyone right now,” Izzy sighed tiredly. “You should give him some time to get used to everything.”

“No,” Clary sobbed. “He needs me! I need to help him!”

“He needs to learn how to cope with his new condition, and you need to go back to the Institute,” Alec said in his commanding tone, getting nods of agreement from Jace and Izzy.

“No!” Clary yelled. “I’m going after Simon! Everything in my life is already shitty enough! My mom is missing! Dot is missing! And now Simon hates me! I can’t have this, I need to fix this! I need to—”

“Yeah, you need to find your mother, you need to find Dot, you need to find Simon— Great! I heard it the other thirty times you said it before,” Alec grunted, losing his patience completely. “You want to know what  _ I _ need to do? I need to stop your sociopathic father from getting the Mortal Cup that can get him an army of Shadowhunters that he will use to kill my husband as well as all the Downworlders, which now includes your best friend. Along the way he will probably kill a bunch of Mundanes and Shadowhunters, too. So, if you can please shut the fuck up and do as you were told, I would appreciate it immensely.”

“Damn, salty Alec is back,” Izzy murmured and Jace nodded.

“Back to the Institute,” Alec said through his teeth. “And if I even dream that you tried to run away, you will start sleeping in a containment cell instead of that good comfortable bedroom we got you.”

Alec rubbed his face forcefully as Izzy and Jace pulled Clary away. He was not proud of the way he had lost his patience, but the last few days had been stressful enough already, and he really couldn’t take Clary screaming anymore.

“Let’s go home, love,” Magnus said in a soothing tone, opening a portal for them.

Magnus summoned their dinner and drew them a relaxing bath. It was only when Magnus started to rub his back with calming oils that Alec realized something.

“I should be the one taking care of you tonight, not the other way around,” he murmured as Magnus massaged his shoulders.

“I enjoy taking care of you, Sayang, you know that,” Magnus answered in the same tone. “And you are too tense, I will need you much more relaxed before you can take care of me the way I want you to,” he added insinuatingly.

Alec sure could get on board with that.


	15. Chapter 15

Waking up with Magnus tucked between his arms would never cease to amaze Alec. No matter how stressful things were out there, as long as he had Magnus with him, he knew everything was going to end up alright.

Magnus stirred a bit and turned to face Alec, opening his unglamoured eyes slowly. “Morning,” he murmured sleepily.

“Morning,” Alec answered in the same tone, nuzzling Magnus’ cheek, before kissing him lightly.

“Do you have to leave already?” Magnus mumbled, snuggling closer to Alec.

He had a conference call with Jia later in the morning, there was still the mole problem for him to solve, and the whole situation with the Circle and finding the Mortal Cup. But when Magnus asked like that, Alec couldn’t find it in himself to go away.

“I can stay for breakfast, if you wanna get up.”

“Hm,” Magnus mumbled into Alec’s chest. “I can get up if I’ll get some extra time with you.”

Alec smiled fondly, before kissing the top of Magnus’ head and getting out of bed. It was rare for Magnus to wake up when Alec did, and he suspected it had something to do with their conversation from the night before.

He wasn’t sure how he was supposed to address the things Magnus told him in the cemetery, or even if he should. For the past two years, every time Magnus opened up more about his past, Alec made sure to show him that he loved him and was there for him, but he never knew how to talk about those things.

Before he married Magnus, when he was confused about his feelings for Jace and his sexuality, Alec used to have self-destructing thoughts, but he had never been close to acting them out. He supposed things would be different if he hadn’t met Magnus when he did, or if he had been forced to marry a woman, so in a way, he could understand it, Magnus had saved him from himself too.

They both had too much to worry about, so they made an effort to talk about lighter topics over breakfast.

“So, you and this Lydia?” Magnus asked when Alec had almost finished eating.

“What about it?” Alec questioned, frowning.

“Jace was complaining about her a lot, he seems to be jealous,” Magnus chuckled, then raised an eyebrow to Alec. “Should I be concerned?”

Alec snorted, shaking his head. “You know there is no reason to, Jace just has a problem with new people,” he said, rolling his eyes, then added after a moment; “Except Clary, I guess.”

“That’s because he has a problem with new people around the people he loves,” Magnus shrugged, taking a sip of his coffee. “It’s quite clear for everyone that you have no interest in getting close to Clary, and Izzy doesn’t seem overly friendly with her either.”

“Maybe,” Alec conceded, gesturing with his fork. “Or maybe he is just a hypocrite?”

“Or that,” Magnus laughed lightly.

The Institute was still in the calm morning state when Alec arrived, and it almost felt like things were back to normal. Almost. Because as soon as he reached his office, he saw the pile of new Clave directives, and reports on other missing in action Shadowhunters that could be with Valentine now.

Alec took a deep breath, before he sat down and started going through the paperwork. He had half-a-mind to text Raphael and ask how Simon’s first night as a Vampire had gone, but he didn’t want to disturb Raphael this early in the day.

His conference call with Consul Penhallow was not what Alec had expected. He had thought she would admonish him on his lack of results regarding recovering the Mortal Cup and finding Valentine. Instead, she went straight into their relationship with the Seelies.

“The Seelies resumed communications,” Jia said, then tilted her head slightly. “As you said they would. They don’t have any information on Valentine other than the location you already raided.”

Alec nodded his understanding. He was almost sure Valentine had multiple bases, but he didn’t expect the Seelies to have found anything else before their scouts were killed.

“They decided to send new scouts better prepared and with more direct and continuous communication,” Jia continued.

They spent some time discussing their next steps on locating Valentine, and the Clave’s new directives on proper procedure upon capturing Circle members, as far as Alec could see, the Clave was being fair to everyone involved without betraying the Downworlders’ trust, but that was not the general opinion.

“We are facing backlash from some Heads of Institute regarding the Clave’s directives against the Circle,” she said, before taking a deep breath. “Especially now that we believe a number of Shadowhunters considered missing in action in the past two years are actually working for the Circle.”

Alec didn’t doubt the more disagreeable Heads of Institute were the same ones Lydia had told him about, and from what he knew of Jia, this backlash would only fuel her resolve to depose them.

With that in mind, Alec commented on how much he appreciated Lydia staying in New York to give him an extra hand. It wouldn’t do him any harm to give Lydia a good recommendation, and if things went well, and she ended up commanding an Institute in the future, it would be advantageous for Alec to have an ally in the meetings.

Jia raised her eyebrows and stared at him attentively. “The Inquisitor was reluctant in allowing Miss Branwell to stay at your Institute, we didn’t want it to sound like we were interfering,” she said, making it sound like a question.

“Oh, not at all,” Alec replied without hesitation. “Lydia and I have been talking a lot, she seems to hold a lot of the same beliefs I do regarding the Alliance and the Circle.”

“Well, that’s good to know,” Jia said, tilting her head with interest.

Before Jia could end the call, Alec decided to share with her some of his suspicions. He had been reluctant to tell anyone about it before gathering more concrete information, but with everything that had been going on, he thought it would be for the best to have at least one of his superiors informed, just in case something happened.

Jia listened to all Alec had to say in silence, only nodding her understanding from time to time. When he finished, she sighed. “I have to admit, the same thing crossed my mind when I read your report on the factory raid, especially with all the dissidents we uncovered recently. I don’t think Valentine would be able to convert so many of our soldiers without someone in the inside.”

In the end, they agreed that it was better to keep it quiet for now, and Alec promised to inform her of any new developments, before ending the call.

Alec was crossing the command center to invite Lydia to have lunch with him again, so he could tell her about the Heads of Institute that were reluctant in following the new directives from the Clave, when he saw Luke walking in with Alison.

The few times they had seen each other since they first met had all been either in neutral territory or in Alec’s apartment. Luke had never come to the Institute, even when invited, and Alec just assumed that, like many other Downworlders, Luke didn’t feel comfortable being surrounded by Shadowhunters. But here he was today, and Alec was not sure what to think of it.

“Luke,” he greeted, crossing the command center in a couple of strides. “How are you? Is there anything I can help you with?”

He glanced around, making a mental note of everyone who was there; Maryse was staring at Luke with widened eyes. Hodge was also observing them attentively from the training room. Robert had nodded to Luke politely before walking out of the Institute with his team, Alec had seen his father and Luke interacting before, and although they were always polite, Alec had the impression that they knew each other better than either of them made appear. Andrew and Raj were on monitor duty, and didn’t seem interest in Luke’s presence, and upon seeing Alec, Alison had tilted her head to Luke politely and gone back to her station.

Alec didn’t think Valentine would be interested in knowing that a Werewolf had come to the Institute to see him, so unless something else happened, there wouldn’t be any reason for the mole to pass that information to the Circle, but it was always safer to be cautious.

“Alec,” Luke greeted, shaking his hand. “Do you have a moment for us to talk?”

“Of course,” Alec answered promptly. “Is it pack business?”

“No, this is personal, actually,” Luke replied after a short hesitation.

Alec nodded, before directing Luke to his office. He had never talked about anything personal with Luke, but for him to come all the way to the Institute, it had to be something important.

“And your serial killer investigation?” Alec asked just to fill in the silence while they walked through the Institute.

“It’s gone cold,” Luke shrugged it off unconcerned. “Our captain is still obsessing over it, but she has no concrete leads. You caught the Demons responsible for it, I assume?”

“We did,” Alec confirmed, opening the door to his office. “It turns out they were peddling Mundane blood for Valentine, but we are already dealing with that,” he paused, placing a Silence Rune on the door before sitting on his chair and gesturing for Luke to do the same. “What can I help you with?”

Luke hesitated for a moment, then took a deep breath. “I don’t like beating around the bush, so let me go straight to it, I’m looking for Clary.”

“Oh?” Alec frowned in surprise, tilting his head slightly. He wasn’t expecting that. Clary had never mentioned Luke or any other Werewolf, and by now Alec was sure she didn’t know anything about the Shadow World before Jace brought her to the Institute. So how was Luke involved with Clary?

“Her mother is my friend, I went to their apartment, but the place was trashed, so I followed Clary’s scent to the Institute,” Luke explained evasively.

Alec stared at Luke attentively, then shook his head. “I’m sorry, Luke. But right now Clary is a Shadowhunter in my Institute, and as such she is under my protection. If you want to talk to her you’ll have to give me an actual explanation on your involvement with her,” he said seriously, then added after a moment. “And her mother.”

“I wouldn’t expect any less of you,” Luke sighed, rubbing his face with a hand, looking tired. “I assume you already know Jocelyn was Valentine’s wife?”

“And that she disappeared after the Uprising, yeah, we know about that.”

“We were already close friends back then, she told me about the Uprising and I gathered some of the Werewolves from the outskirts of Idris to help the other Downworlders fight against the Circle that night,” Luke told him with a thoughtful expression on his face. “I went straight to Valentine during the fight, we fought for a while, but eventually he threw me off using a silver chain, and ran away with the Mortal Cup. Later, I went after Jocelyn, her house was burning down with demonic fire with her family inside, and the only thing she managed to say was that we had to run away from him.”

“From him?” Alec repeated for confirmation. “Not from the Clave?”

“From him,” Luke confirmed, nodding firmly. “Even after the Clave announced that Valentine was dead, Jocelyn never believed it.”

“So she disappeared with the Mortal Cup?” Alec questioned without hiding his disbelief.

“I didn’t know she had the Mortal Cup until our Alpha heard about it from some of his contacts among the Seelies after her disappearance,” Luke said evenly, and Alec believed him. “After the Uprising, we ran to Paris and stayed there for a few weeks, but when she found out she was pregnant she disappeared and I only found her a few years later. I’ve been helping her raise Clary ever since.”

“And that’s how you know Magnus,” Alec said in understanding. “Clary remembered his name and he told us about how he helped Jocelyn hide Clary all these years.”

“When I found Jocelyn, Magnus was already erasing Clary’s memories,” Luke said gravely. “I didn’t like it, but she’s the mother, it was her decision.”

There was something in that story that didn’t make much sense; Jocelyn was in the Circle, worse than that, she was married to the Circle’s leader. How was she friends with a Werewolf from Brocelind Forest? It definitely didn’t add up, but for now it was enough for Alec to allow him to see Clary.

“I can ask Clary to come here now, or would you rather talk to her somewhere else in the Institute?”

“There is something else you need to know first,” Luke said, with a hard look in his eyes.

Alec absolutely hated hearing those words, never in his life they had been followed by something positive, and it was obvious that this wouldn’t be the first time.

“Alright,” he gestured for Luke to keep going.

“I used to be one of you, a Shadowhunter, before I was bitten,” Luke hesitated, looking at Alec intensely and waiting for a reaction. 

But there wasn’t much to react to, it was a surprise, certainly, but it made his story with Jocelyn make much more sense. And Alec might be a bit confused over the fact that he had known Luke for two years and this had never come up, but it wasn’t that big of a deal. Unless—

“You were in the Circle too, weren’t you?” Alec sighed, running a hand over his face tiredly, remembering the way his father and Luke acted around each other and the way his mother and Hodge had looked at Luke when he arrived at the Institute.

“It’s not that simple,” Luke declared seriously. “Valentine —” he took a deep breath. “He was my _ parabatai_.”

_ That _ was shocking. Alec’s jaw dropped and he stared at Luke with his mouth opened, completely speechless. That was not what he expected, that was so out of the realm of his expectations that he just didn’t know how to react to it.

“Oh, fuck,” Alec cussed without thinking, his professionalism out of the window in face of the size of that revelation. “How did— Why— What?” He stammered incoherently, staring at Luke in shock. Then he took a deep breath and tried to regain at least a fraction of his professionalism. “I’m sorry, I know I’m not supposed to ask you about how you turned…” he trailed off, without knowing how to complete the thought.

“It’s okay,” Luke said, nodding slowly. “You’ll find out anyway, so I’d rather you know the truth.”

Alec could perfectly understand that. Now that he knew Luke used to be a Shadowhunter, he wouldn’t be able to refrain from asking his parents about Luke or checking their database, and if he had learned anything about the Clave’s files in the past couple of years, it was that they were only partially accurate.

“What you have to understand is that the Circle didn’t start the way it is now. Me, Jocelyn, your parents—” Luke exhaled sharply. “We didn’t sign up to kill Downworlders.”

“I’ve heard that before,” Alec muttered, raising a hand to rub his temple.

“In the beginning Valentine wanted to reform the Clave, he wanted to change the retrograde laws and advance our society,” Luke sighed. “Only later it turned into madness.” He paused for a moment, getting a distant look on his eyes. “I don’t know if he was always like that or if he changed after a while. I thought I knew everything there was to know about him,” Luke hesitated, placing his hand on a spot on his ribs, where Alec assumed his Parabatai Rune used to be. “But I could see the changes in his behaviour after his father died, he had fits of anger without apparent reason, he blamed the Downworlders and started talking about eradicating them, how they shouldn’t exist to begin with. I was not comfortable with the direction he was taking the Circle, and I guess he felt that, and maybe other things too, and started to pull away from our bond. But I was blind, I made excuses for him, I tried to justify his behaviour, I told myself he was grieving and that was the only reason he was acting like that.”

Alec nodded slowly. He couldn’t even imagine how hurtful a bond like that would become. It had been hard enough for him when Jace pulled away after he found out Michael was not his biological father, he had no idea how he would cope if Jace had turned into a madman decided to commit genocide.

“During that time, it was like there was a shield between us, but sometimes when he had strong feelings I got bursts of it. There was a lot of jealousy coming from him in the end, and I should have known better, but I never thought he would do anything to hurt me,” Luke swallowed dry, before continuing. “One day after we had a fight, he called me for a hunt, he wanted to eradicate the Werewolf pack he claimed was responsible for his father’s death,” Luke averted his eyes and locked his jaw. “I thought he was covering my back.”

“Your _ parabatai _ betrayed you?” Alec asked breathlessly, feeling something uncomfortable pushing against his stomach. “I can’t even imagine that. It— it must’ve been unbearable.”

“Worse than having my guts ripped apart by the Werewolves,” Luke stated gloomily.

“Hurting a _ parabatai_—” Alec hesitated, placing a hand on his own Parabatai Rune. “I can’t even imagine how depraved someone has to be to do that,” he said somberly, feeling bile go up his throat. “It’s evil. It’s the worst thing someone can do. It’s like killing a part of your own soul.”

“I won’t ever know,” Luke said darkly. “It took me some time to understand what had happened and accept it. But Jocelyn never turned her back on me. And now Valentine took her,” he sighed deeply.

Alec didn’t quite know how to respond to that, to any of it. But that didn’t matter in the moment. He summoned Clary to the office, and told Luke all they knew about Valentine’s whereabouts while they waited.

Clary’s shock and hurt when she opened the door and saw Luke there with Alec was more than clear, and surprised Alec a lot. He thought she would be happy to see the man who raised her since she was a young child.

“What are you doing here?” Clary demanded through her teeth.

“Clary,” Luke stood up and placed his hands in front of him placatingly.

“You stay away from me,” Clary yelled, taking two steps back and getting into something resembling a fighting stance.

“Clary, what’s the problem?” Luke asked in confusion, taking a step towards her as she took another step back.

“I heard what you said at the precinct,” Clary said through her teeth, and Alec had the impression that she was forcing herself not to cry. “You told those creeps the last sixteen years of your life were a lie.”

“Those were Valentine’s people. I lied to them to protect you,” Luke said in a calming tone. “They told me the Circle had your mother and that they were looking for you, I couldn’t let them know how much I care about you—”

“How do I know you are telling the truth now?” Clary asked, her eyes overflowing with tears. “You lied to me! You and my mom lied to me my entire life!”

“To protect you!” Luke stated emphatically. “Clary, you don’t understand, you don’t know everything and—”

“Who’s fault is that?” Clary retorted angrily. “The last few days have been so confusing! And I don’t know who I can trust! And—” she bit her lip, leaning against the door.

“Let me explain, let me tell you everything,” Luke pleaded.

“I—” Clary hesitated, glancing at Alec for the first time since she entered the room. “What should I do?” She asked, with her lower lip trembling.

Alec had no idea why she had decided to ask for his advice all of a sudden, specially after he yelled at her the night before, but he knew that was not the right moment to think about that. “Luke and I talked before I called you here, I think you should hear what he has to say,” he said seriously, and to his surprise, Clary nodded slowly and took a couple of steps towards his desk. “I’ll let you talk,” he added after a moment, glancing at Clary, before standing up to leave the room.

Luke thanked Alec with a nod, and sat back on his chair, signing for Clary to do the same. He had already started telling Clary about his past as a Shadowhunter when Alec closed the door behind him and leaned against it heavily.

He was still a bit shocked, when Jace and Izzy appeared in front of him.

“What’s going on?” Jace questioned, looking at the office door with suspicion.

“Luke used to be a Shadowhunter,” Alec said flatly, making Jace’s and Izzy’s eyebrows shoot up. “He was in the Circle, and he was Valentine’s _ parabatai,_” he added in the same tone, to the complete shock of his siblings. “And he raised Clary with her mother,” he finished without allowing them any reaction time. 

“Next you are going to tell us we are also in the Circle and we never realized it,” Jace muttered sardonically.

“It’s like one of those bad soap operas Magnus likes to watch, no one is who they seem to be, there is a surprising revelation every day, and we barely have time to deal with any of it,” Izzy huffed tiredly. 

Alec hummed his agreement, before following his siblings to the command center.

Clary and Luke spent most of the afternoon locked in Alec’s office, and although he had a lot of work to do, Alec didn’t feel like he should interrupt their conversation. The whole thing was already confusing to Alec who had spent his entire life in the Shadow World, he couldn’t imagine how hard it would be for Clary to wrap her mind around it.

Jace was sparring with him to pass the time, while Izzy worked on her tablet on the bench in the corner, when Clary appeared in the command center and ran upstairs to the training room, stopping in front of them breathlessly.

“I know where the Cup is!” She declared a little louder than Alec would have liked.

“Come again?” Jace replied, dropping his kendo stick, and making even more people look at them curiously.

Before she could say anything else, Alec raised a hand to stop her. “In the office,” he said in his commanding tone. It was too late to stop some of the gossip that would surely run wildly, but at least he could do something to keep the important information secret.

For a second he thought Clary was going to protest, instead, she bit her lip and nodded, following Alec, Jace and Izzy downstairs.

“Where’s Luke?” Alec asked as they crossed the command center.

“Waiting in your office,” Clary replied promptly. “The moment I realized where it was, I came straight to you.”

Alec looked at her, tilting his head and raising an eyebrow.

“You were right, I need to learn how to be a proper Shadowhunter if I want to stay here,” she exchanged glances with Izzy and Jace, then added; “And the first step is learning to trust my commanding officer to know the best course of action.”

Alec nodded, but he wasn’t completely convinced about her change of attitude. As Magnus always said, there was just so much promises could do, it was her actions going forward that mattered.

As they reached the office, Alec had to decide what to do regarding Luke. On the one hand, he wasn’t sure he could trust anyone right now. But after everything Luke told him about his past, Alec knew for sure he would never help Valentine in any way. Besides, he was more inclined to trust Downworlders than Shadowhunters right now, he couldn’t imagine a Downworlder would be stupid enough to aid a man who had been settled on eradicating them for all these years. In the end it all depended on what exactly Clary had to say.

Alec took his place back on his chair, while Jace and Izzy decided to stand beside him instead of sitting with Luke and Clary. “Go on,” Alec said, gesturing for Clary to talk.

“It’s in Dot’s tarot cards, my mom painted it years ago,” Clary said emphatically. “The Mortal Cup has to be inside the Ace of Cups, it looks exactly like it.”

“I’m sorry, what?” Alec questioned completely flabbergasted.

“Look,” Clary said impatiently, pushing a piece of paper that Alec hadn’t notice before towards him. The box Clary found back in her apartment was drawn on the paper, it was a perfect rendition of it. “I didn’t draw it,” she explained excitedly. “I brought it to show Luke and I kind of pushed the box down and it ended up inside the paper.”

“And you think your mother did the same with the Mortal Cup,” Izzy conjectured, taking the drawing from Alec’s desk and staring at it, her mouth agape.

“It’s the best hiding place for it!” Clary declared frantically. “Even if Valentine found the tarot card, there was no way he would be able to take the card out of it, not without—” she paused and fear spread through her face.

“Not without your mother,” Jace said tensely. “If he has the cards and he has your mother—”

“Valentine doesn’t have the cards,” Luke stated seriously, and as everyone turned to him questioningly he added; “They are in my desk back at the precinct. When Clary went missing, I went to the loft and cleared everything out because I didn’t want the Circle to be able to track her.”

“That’s great,” Clary said with clear relief. “This should be easy—”

“Don’t say that!” Izzy interrupted her, throwing her arms up in frustration.

“Never say that,” Jace exhaled tiredly.

Luke chuckled as Clary looked from Jace to Izzy with clear confusion. “It’s like when you say the night is going to be calm in the middle of a police station,” he explained.

“Ah,” Clary grimaced. “Sorry.”

“Either way, I’m almost sure Valentine has someone watching me,” Luke said soberly. “By now he probably knows I came to the Institute to talk to you, we need to be discreet. I should go alone.”

Alec understood the need to be discreet, even more than Luke, considering their mole and everything that had happened recently, but there was no way Alec would let him go alone when the Mortal Cup was involved. Getting the Cup back was his first priority as Head of the Institute. And he also knew that securing the Mortal Cup and making sure Valentine had no way of reaching it was the best way to protect the Downworlders. And Magnus. Alec had to protect Magnus. And he didn’t trust anyone other than himself to do that.

“No,” he stated firmly. “I’m sorry, Luke, I agree that we need to be discreet, but this is Shadowhunters’ business.”

Luke pressed his lips tightly, then nodded stiffly. “Of course, you can go with me to the precinct and I will give you the cards straight away. I don’t want any trouble with the Clave.”

“Let’s go, then,” Clary urged them, jumping out of her chair.

“No, no, no.” Luke stood up, gesturing with his hands towards Clary. “It’s too dangerous, Clary, we have no way of knowing how many people Valentine has following me, or what they would do if they thought we found the Cup.”

Alec obviously agreed with Luke, he had been saying that every single time Clary tried to go on a mission with them, but instead of interfering, he just crossed his arms and observed Clary and Luke arguing.

“You are going to tell me to stay behind, too,” Clary grunted to Luke. “Does everyone think I will just sit around while my mom is still missing and do nothing to get her back?”

“Clary, your mother never wanted you to end up in this situation,” Luke said, gesturing to the Institute around them.

“Well, I am now,” Clary replied sardonically. “And there is nothing she can do to stop me, since she is missing, and all that.”

“Luke is right,” Jace said, crossing his arms too. “You are not trained. The last time we took you with us Izzy ended up hurt because of it.”

“I’m the only one who can take the Cup out of the card!” Clary argued, stomping her foot. “You have to take me.”

That was quite enough for Alec. “We can keep the Cup in the card,” he shrugged. “It’s probably safer that way.”

“But—” she tried to complain, but Izzy interrupted her.

“Remember what you said just now?” Izzy asked, raising an eyebrow and pointing towards the door with her head.

“Right,” Clary muttered through her teeth.

Not much later, Alec, Jace, Izzy and Luke ran from the Institute to the precinct with the aid of Speed Runes and Luke’s Werewolf abilities. The first part of it was easy enough, Jace and Izzy waited in the parking lot under glamour, while Alec went inside with Luke.

He was rummaging through his desk, when a blond woman stopped beside them. “Luke, I didn’t expect you back today.”

“Captain Vargas,” Luke greeted with a nod. “I forgot my keys,” he said taking a keychain from his drawer.

Vargas half-smiled, before tilting her head to Alec. “I don’t think we’ve met.”

“This is Alec,” Luke introduced. “He’s one of Clary’s friends.”

“Nice to meet you ma’am,” Alec said politely, extending a hand to her.

Vargas shook his hand, watching him attentively, then said she had something about a case to discuss with Luke and gestured for him to follow her to the other side of the room. Whatever she was going to say, Alec would still be perfectly able to listen with his Heightened Hearing Rune active.

“Isn’t he a bit old to be one of Clary’s friends?” She asked quietly.

“He is a good guy, I’ve known him for years,” Luke chuckled, knowing full well that Alec was listening to their conversation.

“But all those tattoos and leather,” Vargas said dubiously, glancing at Alec from the corner of her eyes.

“His boyfriend walks around with glittery eyeshadow and colourful sparkling clothes,” Luke shrugged unconcerned. “Don’t let appearances fool you.”

She glanced at Alec again, with her face flushed, before excusing herself and walking away.

“You should hope I don’t tell Magnus you called him my boyfriend,” Alec snorted as Luke got back to his desk.

“She was already confused by you, you are too young, I couldn’t tell her you have a husband,” Luke rolled his eyes and shoved his hand back into his drawer, pulling out a deck of cards. He looked through them until he found the Ace of Cups, then handed it to Alec.

He stared at the card for a few moments. The drawing was identical to all the depictions of the Mortal Cup Alec had seen through the years, but there was no way to be sure it was the real Cup without Clary pulling it out of the card, Alec wondered if that was something Magnus would be able to do, as he put the card in his jetted pocket, and tapped it twice, before gesturing for them to leave.

“You know, the only reason I didn’t go to your wedding was to not get anyone’s attention to me so they wouldn’t find Jocelyn,” Luke commented as they walked out of the precinct.

“You think someone would suspect you were still with Jocelyn after all these years?” Alec asked, looking around them attentively, but trying to be discreet.

“For sure,” Luke said without hesitation. “It was a known fact that Jocelyn and I were close.”

“You’ve been around my father since then, he never got suspicious.”

“On the contrary,” Luke shook his head slowly, also keeping an eye on their surroundings. “I’m pretty sure your father knew Jocelyn and I were together all along.”

Alec frowned, but didn’t comment. If that was true, then his father couldn’t be working for the Circle, or Valentine would’ve found Jocelyn much earlier, either that or Robert only started working for Valentine after the Circle reappeared. Alec had no way of knowing for sure without giving away his suspicions and that was the most stressful part of it all. If he could at least be sure neither of his parents were passing information to the Circle, things would get much easier.

“She was not happy to know Magnus was marrying the Head of the local Institute,” Luke commented distractedly after a couple of seconds. “She knew he wouldn’t be able to erase Clary’s memories anymore. She even considered moving away from New York, but Clary was too old, and wouldn’t want to go. Jocelyn was afraid Magnus would betray our trust.”

“He didn’t,” Alec replied simply, pushing the precinct’s door. “I only found out about his involvement after Clary remembered his name.”

“I told her he wouldn’t,” Luke was saying as they crossed the parking lot towards Jace and Izzy, when a couple of uniformed officers started to walk towards them.

Luke wrinkled his nose to them, and he didn’t have to do anything else for Alec to immediately place a hand on his seraph blade. He looked at the officers and noted the abnormal glint on their eyes that denounced their demonic nature.

“Shapeshifters,” Luke murmured, tensing up.

Alec was too visible to end them quickly, and there were too many Mundanes around for them to do it discreetly.

“Greedy bastards,” he muttered, gesturing for Luke to change course.

They turned to the street, only to find two more Shapeshifters coming towards them from there. Luke nudged Alec and pointed to the passage that led to the officers’ parking lot, in the back of the building. They could only hope Jace and Izzy would notice what was going on and come after them.

On the one hand, the back parking lot was almost empty and the few cops they saw were walking into the building in a hurry, on the other hand, there seemed to be more Demons than the ones they saw in the front.

Alec hid behind a pillar and activated his glamour, before picking his bow from his back. Luke couldn’t turn there or he would risk exposing the Shadow World, and using his gun would make the real cops come to see what was going on. Alec gave Luke his dagger as he notched an arrow and shot at one of the Shapeshifter, as it exploded in fire and ichor, the second one ran towards Alec and Luke, and three others appeared behind it, all disguised as uniformed officers.

As he notched the second arrow, Alec felt a rush of adrenaline coming from Jace’s side of the bond, and when his arrow went through the closest Demon, Izzy’s whip caught another and Jace’s blade sliced it in half. 

Having his siblings there gave Alec the steadiness necessary to keep shooting at the Demons, clearing the path from where Jace and Izzy were to the stairs and the back wall of the precinct. But even as Jace and Izzy made their way through them, more and more Shapeshifters appeared from all sides. There was no way they would be able to fight them off discreetly for much longer.

“Never a dull day,” Jace stated when they finally reached Luke and Alec, placing himself by Alec’s side, with his seraph blade ready for more action.

“Told you,” Izzy grunted, pulling a Demon with her whip and slicing it with her blade. “Just like those stupid soap operas.”

They didn’t have much room for fighting without the Mundanes going in and out of the precinct noticing, and even with the four of them working together, they were quickly surrounded by Shapeshifters.

“How did — all these Demons know — the Cup was here?” Jace questioned through his teeth, between swings of his seraph blade.

The mole, of course. It could only have been the mole. Considering Luke’s past, the mole must have informed Valentine of his presence in the Institute, and after Clary talked about the Cup in the middle of the training room, the mole must have informed Valentine of Alec, Jace and Izzy leaving with Luke.

The four of them managed to make a dent in the number of Demons, and there seemed to be less of them appearing from the parking lot, but there were still too many Mundanes passing by for them to be able to fight properly.

Alec was considering calling for reinforcements, when Luke nudged him with his elbow. “The maintenance tunnels,” he said, gesturing to the stairs.

Out of the Mundanes’ line of sight, Luke would be able to turn and fight more effectively, and Alec, Jace and Izzy would be able to get out of the defense. Alec nodded and shot another arrow, as Luke guided them down the stairs to a maintenance door under the precinct.

As Jace kicked the door open, and Luke started to contort into his wolf form, Alec kept shooting arrows and noticed the number of Demons following them had diminished considerably.

Luke bursted from his clothes into the tunnel and Alec ran inside with Izzy and Jace. He put away his bow in favor of his seraph blade and fought alongside Jace, while Luke teared the Demons apart with his teeth, and Izzy lured some of them further into the tunnels.

Without the need to keep the fight discreet and able to move more freely, they made quick work of the Demons that followed them down there.

“Is that all?” Izzy asked breathlessly, coming back to the area where Jace and Alec had stayed.

“I’m not sure,” Jace replied, shaking the ichor out of his blade and staring at the door, waiting for more Demons to come.

“It doesn’t matter,” Alec said firmly. “First priority is taking the Cup to the Institute.” Luke in wolf form growled and nodded his head, and Alec assumed he was agreeing. “I’ll send another team to scout the place later.”

Even if they had killed all the Demons, someone would have to come clean the ichor and collect the discarded arrows, or they would risk getting the Mundanes suspicious.

“You have it?” Izzy questioned, widening her eyes. “Did we really recover the Mortal Cup?”

“If Clary is right,” Alec said quietly, tapping his pocket twice, feeling a modicum of relief. Keeping the Mortal Cup out of Valentine’s hands was the most important thing right now, it was the best way to protect Magnus and the other Downworlders, if they really had the Cup back, they would actually have a chance against Valentine. Alec couldn’t stop himself from feeling hopeful for their future. “Yeah.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey!! I hope all of you are safe and healthy in these difficult times!  
Some of you have probably noticed that we finally have a defined number of chapters now! Yay! I finally finished this fic's outline and I have it all planned out!!  
But I'll probably write one extra oneshot after this fic is done, in the same vibe as the other 2 oneshots in the series.  
Please, let me know what you think of it, and what you think of this chapter in the comments!!


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